Today at 8:35 PM • Updated today at 11:01 PM
The 26 people on board the cruise ship Hondius, which was hit by an outbreak of the hantavirus, landed at Eindhoven air base around half past eight. The passengers are taken care of by the Red Cross and the GGD. Foreign ambulances are also ready at the airport to transport people.
Several countries, including Spain, France and Canada, sent repatriation flights to Tenerife. The chartered aircraft to Eindhoven left on Sunday afternoon at ten to five.
The plane landed at Eindhoven Airport around half past eight. There were at least eight Dutch passengers on board, but also Germans, Belgians, Filipinos and several people from Ukraine, Portugal and Guatemala, among others. After the landing, a convoy of seven German emergency services vehicles also arrived. In addition, Belgian ambulances were previously ready at the air base.
Go outside
Images show how the passengers get off the plane via a staircase. They all wear a face mask. Some wave to the press as they walk towards the air base building.
The Dutch passengers must be in home quarantine for six weeks. According to the RIVM, they are allowed to go outside for a walk, as long as they keep a distance of 1.5 meters and wear a face mask. They also have daily contact with the local GGD, and none of the passengers have any complaints.
Disembarked after days
Early this morning the Hondius dropped anchor in the industrial port of Granadilla de Abona on Tenerife. The group that was brought to Eindhoven was the second to disembark after a Spanish delegation.
The passengers were then brought ashore in groups in small boats, tested and transported to the airport. The charter flight to Eindhoven was ready there.
Quarantine
In Eindhoven, the passengers are cared for by a special team of Red Cross volunteers. A spokesperson previously reported to Omroep Brabant that staff in protective clothing would welcome the passengers.
An intake takes place after landing. Blood is taken, the passengers fill out a questionnaire and are given something to eat and drink. They are then taken home by professional transport. There they have to be in home quarantine for six weeks.
According to the RIVM, the affected people are dealing with the Andes virus, a variant of the hantavirus. This virus mainly spreads through contact with saliva or feces of rats and mice.
The variant of the virus is not exactly harmless. One in three people who contract the disease do not overcome it, virologist Jean Luc Murk previously stated. Yet, according to him, we don’t have to worry: “Many people have corona in the back of their minds, but this is a completely different situation.”
On Monday, the Dutch government will send another plane to Tenerife to pick up part of the crew of the Hondius. The ship then sails from the Spanish island to Rotterdam, where it is thoroughly disinfected.
What about the outbreak on the Hondius?
The situation on board the Hondius became world news after the hantavirus was diagnosed. The outbreak started with a 69-year-old Frisian and his wife. They probably contracted the virus during an excursion in Argentina, where they may have come into contact with the feces of infected rats or mice.
A few days later the man became ill. He developed a fever, headache and respiratory complaints and died on board while the ship was en route to Saint Helena. His wife disembarked there and flew to South Africa, from there to the Netherlands. She collapsed at Johannesburg airport. The next day she succumbed to the virus. A German woman on board also died from the virus.
Although the virus initially did not appear to be transmissible from person to person, the World Health Organization WHO estimates that it has still spread on board. A British, a German and a Dutchman on board the Hondius also became ill. They have already been repatriated to the Netherlands. A total of eight suspected cases have been reported, including the three deaths.
