The health status of the Spanish citizen with hantavirus who is hospitalized at Gómez Ulla hospital remains stable. This description is considered by experts as something “positive,” because it reveals that the 70-year-old passenger of the Hondius is responding to the care provided by the medical team treating him. Indeed, once symptoms appear (fever, stomach problems, respiratory issues…), deterioration is rapid in some of the infected. In this case, the patient, who presented low-grade fever and respiratory dysfunctions, has responded to the oxygen he is receiving, health sources indicate.
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This patient is admitted on the 22nd floor, in the High-Level Isolation and Treatment Unit (Uatan) of the Gómez Ulla military hospital, completely separated from the rest of his cruise companions, who are on a “normal” floor, although isolated in their rooms. According to sources from the Ministry of Health, the PCR test performed again on this group has come back negative.
This afternoon there was a meeting between the Health Ministers of the European countries that had citizens on the cruise (Spain, France, Slovenia, Malta, Bulgaria, Finland, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Portugal, Croatia, Denmark, and Austria), as well as the United Kingdom and representatives from the ECDC and the European Commission. In this meeting, France reported the health status of a 65-year-old female passenger with hantavirus, who suffers from the most severe form of cardiopulmonary syndrome, with artificial oxygenation in intensive care. Her life is feared at risk.
In the latest reports from the Coordination Center for Health Alerts and Emergencies (CCAES) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), most of the infected people (8 positives and two suspected and one inconclusive) are over 60 years old. The three deceased were aged 70 and 69 (Dutch couple) and the German woman, 76, whose body is traveling on the ‘Hondius’ to Rotterdam.
Special interest has been aroused by the case of the American, a retired oncologist, who helped in the ship’s prevention efforts. According to the ECDC, this passenger had an inconclusive test (the Americans call it a weak positive) and subsequently negative. The doctor, a bird enthusiast, is healthy, as he reports, but isolated awaiting serological results. Health authorities believe he may have had the disease (he described it as like the flu) in April. There could be more cases like his.
In the meeting held among European countries, the Netherlands reported that they expect to receive the ship between Sunday and Monday. The crew will be given a PCR test upon arrival and after one week of quarantine, just as Spain does. They have assured that quarantine will be carried out in the Netherlands for all nationalities that do not pick up their contacts.
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