Americans evacuated from cruise ship affected by hantavirus will not be mandatorily quarantined in the US
American passengers evacuated from the MV Hondius cruise ship will not necessarily be placed in quarantine, a high-ranking American health official said on Sunday, urging the public to remain calm in the face of a situation that “is not similar to that of Covid”, reports CNN and News.ro.
The USA announced on Friday that they will organize a repatriation flight for the 17 Americans on board the ship on which an outbreak of hantavirus was identified.
These passengers, who are all asymptomatic, will be transported to a specialized center in the state of Nebraska, but will not necessarily be placed in quarantine, Jay Bhattacharya, acting director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the country's main health agency, explained to CNN on Sunday.
“We will question them and evaluate their level of risk”, namely “if they were in close contact with a person who showed symptoms” or not, he specified.
Following this assessment and based on the estimated risk, passengers will be given “the option to remain in Nebraska if they wish, or to return home if their family situation allows them to be brought safely without exposing others on the road,” he added.
“I don't think it's best practice”
When asked about countries, such as the United States, that choose not to impose mandatory quarantine on their citizens disembarking from the ship, Spanish Secretary of State for Health Javier Padilla said it is up to those countries to take the measures they think are best. But “I don't think it's the best practice from a clinical point of view,” he pointed out.
All passengers on the luxury cruise ship MV Hondius are considered high-risk contacts as a precaution, the European public health agency said late on Saturday.
