Australian passengers who were stranded on a Hantavirus-stricken cruise have been hit with fresh delays in their desperate quest to return home.
Four Australian citizens, one permanent resident and a New Zealand national were among the last to disembark from MV Hondius when it docked at the Spanish island of Tenerife on Monday.
But their repatriation flight sent by the Australian government never showed up.
Passengers also faced delays getting off the ship after worsening weather made it unsafe for smaller boats to reach the vessel offshore.
It came as a French woman and an American tested positive on board the luxury liner for the rat virus on Monday, taking the outbreak to ten confirmed cases.
The ship captain had to ask for permission to dock at Tenerife, allowing the Australians to disembark the ship and board buses to travel to the airport.
Another plane was sent to collect the passengers and take them to the Netherlands, where they are expected to quarantine for at least 48 hours under strict rules.
A plane carrying passengers evacuated from the MV Hondius is seen after it landed at the Eindhoven Air Base in the Netherlands
Evacuated passengers are seen after disembarking in the Netherlands
Australian passengers have finally disembarked from a Hantavirus-stricken cruise
Adding to the delays was the long flight distance from Australia, with the plane needing to refuel on the way there and back.
Two of the impacted Australians are from Queensland and three are from NSW.
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher could not explain why the repatriation flight did not show up but assured another was on the way.
‘We’ve been dealing with a very challenging situation as we try to manage the repatriation of those individuals,’ she told Sunrise on Tuesday.
‘But you know we work with all countries about making sure we’ve got the safest and most efficient way back into Australia.
‘It is going to take a bit of time to get them home because they’re far away, but they will be landing in Perth later this week.’
Whether the returned travellers will remain in quarantine after the three-week period is unclear. The World Health Organisation recommends a 42-day quarantine period.
‘This period of three-weeks of quarantine will only cover part of the 42-day quarantine period or potential incubation period that is relevant to this particular virus,’ Health Minister Mark Butler told reporters on Monday.
The final passengers to leave the cruise ship were put onto buses to travel to the airport
Australian passengers won’t arrive in Perth until later in the weeks following fresh delays
MV Hondius was allowed to dock at Tenerife on Monday to allow the final passengers to disembark
‘We’ll be seeking further advice from the Chief Health Officers about what arrangements should take place beyond that initial three weeks.
‘I do make no apology for the fact this is one of the stronger approaches you’d see around the world.’
An elderly Dutch couple and a German national have died from Hantavirus.
The cases were reported in early May and the cruise has been locked down since.
Hantavirus usually spreads when people inhale contaminated residue from rodent droppings and isn’t easily transmitted between people. However, the strain detected on the ship may be able to spread between people in rare cases.
Symptoms usually show between one and eight weeks after exposure. No human cases have ever been recorded in Australia.
The federal government said its priority was keeping it that way.
‘I want to stress that our primary responsibility as a government is to keep our community safe and healthy,’ Butler said.
‘We also have a responsibility to those passengers to bring them home and to protect them from any risk of potentially transmitting the virus without knowing it.
‘These arrangements discharge both of those responsibilities.’
