He hantavirus outbreak from cruise ship MV Hondius is raising the ghosts of the covid 19 pandemic. While Spain tries to limit the risk of passenger evacuation to a minimum, the rest of the countries whose citizens have been exposed to the virus are taking measures to ensure that the situation is as controlled as possible.
From mandatory quarantinesconstant tests and decrees to ensure isolation in Franceuntil the relocation of citizens repatriated to the United States who in the coming days will be evaluated at the National Quarantine Center of the University of Nebraska. Yes, in 2020 the pandemic tested the health capacity of the entire world, now, bridging the gaps between one disease and another, it is time to examine whether note was taken to apply new prevention protocols.
In recent days, France has repatriated the five citizens who were on the MV Hondius, including a passenger who after developing symptoms compatible with the disease tested positive. The French Minister of Health, Stephanie Ristnoted that his health condition “unfortunately worsened” during the night. Later, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) reported in a statement that the patient is hospitalized. in “intensive care”. Along with the other four repatriated citizens, there are 22 people identified for having maintained contact with this woman.
For this reason, the French Government has chosen to reinforce your answer against possible infections through a emergency decree that allows managing the risk of infectionthrough the isolation of the positive person, the surveillance of the four negative ones (they will remain hospitalized for a minimum of 15 days), repetition of tests, contact tracing and the possibility of impose a quarantine to those who were on the MV Hondius. In addition, this decree also obliges those passengers on flights related to the hantavirus outbreak to contact the health authorities and keep safe home quarantine while your risk is assessed.
Among the first cases that set off the alarms on the MV Hondius was a German citizen who died on the cruise ship. In addition, another 65-year-old woman who was also traveling on the Hondius and had contact with one of the fatalities, who was part of the three initial evacuees in Cape Verde, is admitted to the infectious diseases unit of the Düsseldorf Hospitalinforma Gemma Casadevall.
In these cases, the health authorities of Germany they are wearing a exhaustive control both the four repatriates and the woman who arrived separately from the rest of the repatriates. In your case, even after having given negative results in both a PCR test and another serology test. The rest will be subjected to laboratory diagnostic tests and constant monitoring until the incubation period of the virus is completed. Furthermore, in the case of the deceased woman, his body remains on the ship and will not be removed until its arrival at the port of Rotterdam, Netherlands, in about five days, a port where the ship’s disinfection will take place.
The odyssey of the MV Hondius, which sails under the Dutch flag, will conclude in the port of Rotterdam, Netherlandswhere the crew can disembark and the ship will undergo a prolonged cleaning and disinfection process in which the bodies of the three deceased people will be disembarked: a German woman and two Dutch citizens. Furthermore, according to the World Health Organization, the Netherlands already received three passengers who were evacuated from Cape Verde between May 6 and 7, so the Dutch authorities have already implemented numerous containment measures that combine evacuation, medical control and quarantine.
Specifically, the Government has organized flights to the Eindhoven air base, after which the relevant medical checks have been carried out, health questionnaires and sample extraction. From there, Dutch citizens have been taken to their homes and must keep six weeks of home quarantineunder monitoring of the municipal public health network (GGD for its acronym in Dutch). In addition, non-residents evacuated by the Netherlands have been accommodated in quarantine facilities organized by the GGD.
For your part Italiawith four citizens initially identified as possible infections, is studying implementing a battery of measures to deal with this scenario. The Government of Giorgia Meloni study strengthen controls on flights from affected areas and allow commanders to alert about passengers with health problems on board. Furthermore, and although at the moment none of the four passengers initially identified as possible infections present serious complications, it is planned to require all actors involved to Immediate communication with the Ministry of Healthinforma Irene Savio.
The United Kingdom is one of the countries that has repatriated the most people from the Hondius: 20 British citizens who were on the cruise, in addition to a German resident and a Japanese, and has taken to Arrowe Park Hospitalin Wirral, in the suburbs of Liverpool, where they will remain admitted to a special unit for 72 hours. During the transfer, strict infection control measures have been applied for both passengers and crew members, drivers and medical teams, reports Lucas Font.
During these 72 hours, the 20 citizens exposed to the virus, who have not shown symptoms for now, will be subjected to clinical evaluations and periodic tests by specialists from the British Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the National Health Service (NHS), who will determine where they can appropriately isolate during a period of 45 days.
For their part, in the United States they have chosen relocate the 17 repatriated citizens to Nebraska. According to travel blogger Jake Rosmarin, who was aboard the Hondius, the returnees will be evaluated in Omaha with support from the National Quarantine Center from the University of Nebraska. Thus, according to the United States national public health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), they have activated a federal response and deployed teams in both the Canary Islands and Nebraska to evaluate their citizens and coordinate the response with state and local authorities.
In fact, the American evacuation was carried out using a flight chartered by the State Department, equipped with biocontainment units for passengers that had given a positive result or symptoms of the disease. However, the Administration has not proposed a mandatory federal quarantine generalized, but an individual classification by risk, with the possibility of remaining in Nebraska or completing monitoring and isolation at home under the supervision of state and local health authorities.
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