00:01A plane lands at Manchester Airport, carrying British passengers returning from the cruise
00:06of a lifetime that turned into a month-long nightmare. At least three aboard the MV Hondias
00:11died from a rare form of hantavirus that spread between people. After a detour to Spain's Canary
00:17Islands, the passengers are on their way back home. But that's just the first step. 22 British
00:24passengers have been sent to a former COVID isolation hospital near Liverpool for quarantine.
00:30No one here has symptoms, but there are still reassurances for locals.
00:34The fact that we were the isolation centre for COVID, for the coronavirus before it was
00:40a pandemic, that may trigger some people to feel more anxious about what that might mean.
00:46But really, this is an understood known virus that can be managed appropriately.
00:53The UK Health Security Agency says all passengers and crew will isolate for 45 days.
00:59But the UK is just one of many countries where passengers from the stricken ship are returning.
01:05One returning to France does have symptoms and is in quarantine in a Paris hospital.
01:10I know the French experts will do all that's needed to manage this. And that's why we say,
01:22when you see it from different angles, this may not be a concern. But at the same time,
01:30all the preparations also gives us confidence. And the behaviour of the virus also, which is not,
01:40I've said it many times, is not COVID.
01:43The ordeal is still not over, at least for some. There are still passengers in the Canary Islands
01:49waiting for special flights home on Monday, according to Spain's health minister.
01:54Later in the afternoon, there are still two flights scheduled. The Australia flight carrying six people
02:00and the Netherlands flight, which is expected to carry 18 people.
02:05Transmission of this Andean strain of the rodent-borne virus is not easy. And health experts agree that
02:11this isn't the next pandemic. But there are still challenges ahead. More than 24 passengers left the
02:18cruise part way through, travelling from there to a range of countries. Health authorities will need
02:23to find them and decide what to do next. And with an incubation period of up to six weeks,
02:28it could take a while before the full extent of this outbreak is known. Devin Tsai and John Van Trieste
02:34for Taiwan Plus.
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