British patient well enough to leave Netherlands as port of Rotterdam awaits Hondius
Ministers Hermans of Health, Welfare, and Sport and Berendsen of Foreign Affairs informed the Tweede Kamer that the British passenger from the cruise ship Hondius, who is hospitalized in the Netherlands with hantavirus, has recovered sufficiently to travel to the United Kingdom, AD reports.
The Brit was evacuated from Cape Verde to the Netherlands last week along with a Dutchman and a German woman. The woman was taken to Germany and tested negative. The Brit and the Dutchman were ill and were admitted to the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) and the Radboudumc in Nijmegen, where they tested positive for the virus. It is not known who is in which hospital.
Hermans and Berendsen are in contact with the British authorities regarding the repatriation but are unsure when it will happen.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reiterated Friday evening that the risk of hantavirus to the global population remains low.
In the meantime, the ship Hondius, on which the hantavirus outbreak took three lives, is on the way to Rotterdam harbor, with expected arrival on Monday morning. A total of 27 people remain on board, including 25 crew members and two employees of the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM).
Hermans and Berendsen report that the Filipino crew members who flew to the Netherlands later or are still en route with the ship are best advised to complete the full six-week quarantine period in the Netherlands. This is due to the ‘limited possibilities for the implementation and enforcement of quarantine’ in the Philippines and the ‘limited access to optimal medical care’ in the event that someone falls ill there. In total, there were 38 Filipino crew members, 17 of whom are still on board.
Within the group arriving on Monday, four crew members are Dutch. The other 23 are foreign crew members: 17 from the Philippines, 4 from Ukraine, 1 from Russia, and 1 from Poland.
