Ten more cruise passengers to be flown to UK for hantavirus monitoring

Hantavirus testing of UK passengers well under way, health officials say7 hours agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleAmy WalkerGetty ImagesTwenty-two passengers are isolating at Arrow Park hospital in MerseysideClinical assessments and testing of passengers who were on board the MV Hondius are "well under way" at a Merseyside hospital after they were evacuated from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship, health officials have said.The passengers - which include 20 British nationals, a German national who is a UK resident and a Japanese passenger - are more than 24 hours into a 72-hour isolation period at Arrowe Park Hospital.Once discharged, they will be asked to self-isolate for up to 45 days.On Monday, Prof Robin May, chief scientific officer at UKHSA, said the evacuees were "healthy and asymptomatic".In a later update on Monday evening, he added: "We want to reassure both passengers and the wider public that robust arrangements are in place, and that everyone involved will be looked after every step of the way."No sign of larger hantavirus outbreak, says UN health agency How worried should we be about hantavirus?Three people have died following the outbreak on the cruise ship, two of whom were confirmed to have the virus.They include an elderly Dutch man, who died before he could be tested, and his wife, who died after disembarking. A German woman also died on board the ship.On Tuesday morning, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said "our work is not over" to contain hantavirus after the cruise ship outbreak.He said "there is no sign that we are seeing the start of a larger outbreak", but added that "given the long incubation period of the virus, it's possible we might see more cases in the coming weeks".Eighty-seven passengers of the Dutch MV Hondius, which was docked in Spain's Canary Islands, have been repatriated over the past few days, the ship's operator,...