A British tourist’s holiday in Italy has ended abruptly. Although he is in perfect health, shows no symptoms and tested negative for the hantavirus, he was arrested by the authorities in a Milanese bar. He was previously on the same flight as a Dutch woman who has now died from the virus. The sixty-year-old must now be quarantined for 42 days in a hospital in Milan.
Journalist at HLN
Source: Daily Mail
The man was decisively taken from a bar in Milan on Tuesday evening, together with his traveling companion. Remarkably, that traveling companion was not even on the flight in question. However, both were immediately transferred to Sacco Hospital, where they must remain in strict isolation until June 6. They thus complete the 42-day isolation period required by the Italian Ministry of Health.
Because the Briton stayed in a bed and breakfast as a tourist and could not safely isolate himself there, he has no choice but to serve the entire quarantine in a single room in the Infectious Diseases department.
Airlink flight
The drastic measure is a direct result of an earlier Airlink flight from Saint Helena to Johannesburg. Also on that flight was 69-year-old Dutch Mirjam Schilperoord, a passenger on the cruise ship MV Hondius, who later succumbed to the hantavirus. Another passenger from the same flight has also tested positive.
Mirjam was the wife of the Dutch ornithologist Leo Schilperoord (70), who is designated by experts as ‘patient zero’. The couple is believed to have contracted the rare and fatal infection while birdwatching at a rubbish dump in Argentina.
Tip
The fact that the Italian authorities knew exactly where the tourist was was thanks to a tip from the British government. The man had already completed a long journey, including a stopover in Amsterdam, before his holiday in Northern Italy came to an abrupt end in this way.
Ten British nationals from remote island areas, including passengers from the Hondius cruise ship, are also being transferred to the United Kingdom for preventive isolation. This was reported by the British Health Safety Agency (UKHSA).
The repatriates come from the overseas territories of Saint Helena and Ascension. They also include medical personnel who had contact with confirmed cases during the hantavirus outbreak on the Dutch ship.
According to the UKHSA, those involved were already in isolation and showed no symptoms. This is a precautionary measure, the agency said.
Eight French citizens who took the first flight from the island of Saint Helena to Johannesburg with the sick Dutch passenger on April 25 are also all in Paris hospitals for observation.
The two Belgian passengers of the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius, 61-year-old Helene Goessaert from Vilvoorde and 69-year-old Mark from Ghent, have both tested negative for the hantavirus. They have now been allowed to return home and must observe a quarantine period of six weeks. The Department of Care will maintain daily contact with them to monitor their health status.
