Aussies from virus-hit ship to be sent to COVID-era quarantine centre amid 'stronger' approach

The four Australian citizens, one permanent resident and one New Zealander from the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius will be sent to a special quarantine centre built in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Health Minister Mark Butler said while the virus is "very, very rare" with human-to-human transmission "rarer still", he's taking a "precautionary approach".

He announced this afternoon that, while charter flight details for the five Australians and one Kiwi are still being finalised, the group will be flown into RAAF Base Pearce near Perth, before immediately being transferred to the nearby Bullsbrook Centre for National Resilience.

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Hantavirus will be listed under the Biosecurity Act before they arrive, and an order will be made for them to quarantine for three weeks.

Butler said the incubation period for the virus is 42 days, so contacts need "quite a long period" of quarantine.

"As we move into that three-week period we will be seeking further advice," Butler said.

"I do make no apology for the fact this is one of the stronger approaches you'd see around the world," adding some countries are only quarantining passengers for a few days.

He added the government was taking a "precautionary approach", and none of the six have symptoms.

The group will be tested for the virus, and samples will then be sent to Melbourne, Australia's only testing facility, for results.

Buttler said plane crew will wear "very high levels of protection".

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The Bullsbrook centre was completed in 2022, towards the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, and has 500 beds.

In 2023, it was used for bushfire evacuees.

There are now a total of eight cases overall from the small luxury exploration ship, with six linked to the original two cases, a couple who died.

One American and a French passenger have both become ill since leaving the ship.

The quarantine arrangements announced by Buttler are a change from the plan mooted earlier by NSW Health.

It said the group would be taken to the NSW Biocontainment Centre at Westmead Hospital once they get home from the Canaries, where the ship is now docked.

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Unveiled in 2023, it is a special unit to isolate patients with rare, highly infectious diseases.

It has six special beds and can handle highly infectious and deadly diseases like ebola.

It even has a lift to transport contagious patients directly from the hospital helipad or ambulance straight to the biocontainment centre.

The Aussies are now waiting on the vessel, despite other passengers departing, as they await a flight home.

A federal government spokesperson said Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade consular officers in Tenerife and Canberra had been closely coordinating the response while the Commonwealth and states are working through health and transport arrangements.

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Spanish passengers were the first to leave the MV Hondius following its arrival in Tenerife, the largest island in the Spanish archipelago off the West African coast.

They were then flown to Madrid and taken to a military hospital.

Hours later, a plane that evacuated French passengers landed in Paris, where it was met by emergency vehicles.

The planes arriving in Tenerife were to fly out passengers from more than 20 countries.

Hantavirus usually spreads when people inhale contaminated residue of rodent droppings and isn't easily transmitted between people.

But the Andes virus detected in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to spread between people in rare cases.

Symptoms usually show between one and eight weeks after exposure.

"The entire operation is proceeding normally," Spanish Health Minister Mónica García said on Monday.

Authorities are aiming to complete the evacuation flights for people of more than 20 different nationalities on Sunday and Monday.

Passengers and crew members disembarking were leaving behind their luggage, and were allowed to take only a small bag with essential items, a cell phone, charger and documentation.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus sought to reassure the public, repeating on Sunday that the risk for the general public from the outbreak remained low.

"We have been repeating the same answer many times," he said.

"This is not another COVID. And the risk to the public is low. So they shouldn't be scared, and they shouldn't panic."

Even so, those disembarking and personnel working at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife wore protective gear during the evacuation process, including face masks, hazmat suits and respirators.

After setting foot on the ground, the passengers were taken in sealed-off buses to the Spanish island's ​main airport about 10 minutes away, to board planes ⁠heading to their respective countries.

Europe's public health agency said late on ​Saturday all passengers were considered high-risk contacts as a precautionary measure.

Some crew, as well as the body of a passenger who died on board, will remain on the ship, which will sail on to Rotterdam, Netherlands where it will undergo disinfection, Spanish authorities said.

France's Foreign Ministry said five French passengers would be in hospital for 72 hours for monitoring before quarantining at home for 45 days.

After the passenger came down with symptoms, the prime minister said the five would be kept in the hospital "until further orders."

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WHO reassures Canary Islands locals

Earlier, Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia and Ghebreyesus looked to reassure the community on the Canary Islands that there would be no outbreak on land.

"I know you are worried. I know that when you hear the word 'outbreak' and watch a ship sail toward your shores, memories surface that none of us have fully put to rest. The pain of 2020 is still real, and I do not dismiss it for a single moment," Ghebreyesus said during a news conference in Madrid.

"But I need you to hear me clearly: This is not another COVID. The current public health risk from hantavirus remains low. My colleagues and I have said this unequivocally, and I will say it again to you now."

Garcia said passengers and some crew would disembark in Tenerife "under maximum safety conditions".

Operation could be delayed as residents express concern

There were earlier concerns the operation to let passengers leave the stricken ship could be delayed, with Canary Islands President Fernando Clavijo claiming some of the repatriation flights that were to take passengers back to their home countries had not arrived on time.

In an impromptu press conference, he claimed he was looking to cancel the operation due to the health risks it would pose to his community.

He is not the only one who is concerned.

Some on Tenerife say they are worried. On board the cruise ship, some Spanish passengers have voiced concern about being stigmatised.

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"I tell you, I don't like this very much," 69-year-old resident Simon Vidal said.

"Anyone can say what they want. Why did they have to bring a boat from another country here? Why not anywhere else, why bring it to the Canary Islands?"

Others said they empathised with the boat's passengers, but were still concerned.

"The truth is that it is very worrying," 27-year-old Venezuelan immigrant Samantha Aguero said.

"We feel a bit unsafe, we don't feel as there are 100 per cent security measures in place to welcome it.

"This is a virus after all and we have lived this during the pandemic. But we also need to have empathy."

Reported with Associated Press.

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