Australian passengers on Hantavirus cruise ship en route home

A repatriation plane with four Australian citizens, a permanent resident and a New Zealander on board left the Netherlands for Australia this evening.

They have all tested negative for hantavirus and are being monitored by medical professionals. 

The passengers were expected to arrive at RAAF Base Pearce, about 35 kilometers north of Perth, at around 11am (1pm AEST) on Friday.

All passengers and crew on board the charter flight will be fully clad in personal protective equipment (PPE) and will follow strict quarantine procedures during the flight and once boarding.

The group will then undergo a three-week quarantine at a facility at the Bullsbrook Center for National Resilience.

Health officials will then review the scheme after the three-week period has expired

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a 42-day quarantine

The Bullsbrook center was commissioned by the federal government in mid-2021, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was one of three such facilities designed to house returning Australians, with a similar 500-bed center built in Pinkenba, Brisbane, and a larger 1000-bed center in Mickleham, Melbourne.

Three of the Australian passengers are from NSW and two from Queensland

The six passengers were initially told they could travel through the Netherlands for up to 48 hours under strict protocols before flying on to Perth.

But authorities struggled to find a country willing to stop the charter plane for refueling on its way to Perth.

Health Minister Mark Butler could not confirm where the plane would stop for fuel

He added that although the virus was “very, very rare” and human-to-human transmission was “even rarer”, he was still taking a “precautionary measure”.

There are now eleven confirmed cases of Hantavirus, all from passengers or crew members of the MV Hondius.

Three people have died after contracting the deadly rat-borne disease.

It was the first-ever case of a hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship, according to Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness.

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