Arrowe Park Hospital Houses 22 Passengers from Hantavirus Cruise Ship for Quarantine

Twenty-two passengers evacuated from a cruise ship with hantavirus cases have arrived on Merseyside for isolation at Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral. The group will stay in a hospital block last used to quarantine Britons repatriated from China at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

Built in 2006 to house medical students and NHS key workers, the Frontis building at the 800-bed Arrowe Park Hospital sits on a 15-acre site on the Wirral Peninsula. None of the passengers show symptoms of the virus. Health authorities described preparations for the site as a "genuinely herculean effort."

The passengers from the MV Hondius include 20 British nationals, one German and one Japanese. The UK Health Security Agency arranged their transfer for monitoring by specialists. A joint statement from North West NHS bodies, Merseyside Police and Wirral Council called the operation "planned, controlled and carefully managed."

Labour MP Matthew Patrick for Wirral West said medical experts recommended the block because it is "ideal for isolating" and close to facilities in Liverpool, including the Royal Liverpool University Hospital's regional adult Tropical and Infectious Diseases Unit and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.

Coaches transported the passengers in a convoy reminiscent of 2020, when more than 80 people evacuated from China arrived at the site. That marked the first UK quarantine facility since 1978, when Catherine-de-Barnes Hospital in Solihull isolated smallpox cases.

Local residents offered cake, flowers, wine and toys to those 2020 arrivals but raised concerns about hosting potential coronavirus carriers nearby.

The passengers will isolate until Wednesday in flats with panoramic views over Arrowe Park and the Irish Sea coast. Specialists will provide food and essentials during the 72-hour period and assess them before deciding on up to 45 days of home isolation or elsewhere. An NHS spokesperson said "strict infection control measures" including PPE will apply to all medical teams, drivers and staff.

Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust stressed the quarantine will not affect main hospital operations. Planned services continue as usual, and patients should attend appointments normally. The trust said there is "no risk to patients, visitors or staff," with the site separated from main facilities, and the risk to the general public, especially in Wirral, remains very low.