Twelve medical employees at a Dutch hospital have been positioned in precautionary quarantine for six weeks after strict PPE protocols weren’t adopted.
TENERIFE, SPAIN – MAY 10: Employees arrive carrying protecting clothes after the MV Hondius docked within the Granadilla Port on Could 10, 2026 in Tenerife, a part of the Canary Islands, Spain. The cruise ship MV Hondius, which had three passengers die from Hantavirus final month and eight extra reported instances, is predicted to reach on Sunday Could 10 in Tenerife, the place the remaining passengers might be repatriated to their respective nations. At a press convention this week, representatives of the World Well being Group (WHO) emphasised the outbreak of this uncommon virus didn’t represent a pandemic, nevertheless it has stirred anxieties within the Canary Islands and elsewhere. (Picture by Chris McGrath/Getty Photos) (Picture: Getty Photos)
Hospital employees within the Netherlands face quarantine after flouting strict PPE protocols whereas treating a affected person who had been aboard the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, the MV Hondius.
The Radboud College Medical Centre (Radboudumc) confirmed on Monday that 12 members of employees had put themselves liable to contamination by failing to stick to particular, stringent protocols when dealing with blood and urine samples from an contaminated particular person who had been on board the virus-plagued vessel.
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Regardless of the chance of an infection being deemed low, the 12 healthcare staff are to stay in “preventive quarantine for six weeks as a precaution,” the hospital confirmed.
The doorway of Radboud College Medical Centre, a educating hospital in Nijmegen within the Netherlands (Picture: Radboud College Nijmegen Medical Centre (UMC St Radboud))
The affected person, contaminated with the rodent-borne virus, has been receiving hospital remedy since Wednesday, following a medical evacuation from the ill-fated Dutch vessel that has been on the coronary heart of a world well being emergency in current weeks. Blood samples have been taken from the affected person and processed utilizing normal security measures. “As a result of nature of the virus, this blood ought to have been processed in response to a stricter process,” a hospital spokesperson confirmed on Monday.
“As well as, it grew to become clear on Saturday, Could 9, that probably the most up-to-date worldwide rules had not been adopted in the course of the disposal of the affected person’s urine.” Employees members will obtain all essential assist whereas in isolation, the college medical centre confirmed, with Radboudumc board chair Dr Bertine Lahuis transferring to reassure the general public that the chance to the broader inhabitants stays low.
“Even supposing the possibility of precise an infection may be very small, these measures have a major affect on all these concerned. We remorse that this has occurred at our college medical centre,” she mentioned, including {that a} cautious investigation is coming to “be taught from this and to forestall it from taking place sooner or later” as soon as once more.
Her public remarks come simply days after the contaminated affected person was first triaged on the hospital, with the Dutch medical centre having assured the general public on the time that its employees had the hantavirus containment measures firmly below management.
TENERIFE, SPAIN – MAY 11: Port vessels accompany the MV Hondius because it departs the Granadilla Port in spite of everything passengers have been evacuated on Could 11, 2026 in Tenerife, a part of the Canary Islands, Spain. The cruise ship MV Hondius, which had three passengers die from Hantavirus final month and eight extra reported instances, docked in Tenerife on Could tenth, the place the remaining passengers are being repatriated to their respective nations. At a press convention this week, representatives of the World Well being Group (WHO) emphasised the outbreak of this uncommon virus didn’t represent a pandemic, nevertheless it has stirred anxieties within the Canary Islands and elsewhere. (Picture by Chris McGrath/Getty Photos) (Picture: Getty Photos)
A spokesperson mentioned on the time: “On the ward the place the affected person is admitted, acceptable isolation measures have been taken to forestall unfold, in accordance with internationally agreed protocols. The workforce is specialised and skilled within the care of sufferers with extreme infectious illnesses.”
The affected person at Radboudumc was one in every of three who have been medically evacuated from the MV Hondius whereas it was docked off the coast of Cape Verde final week. They have been transported again to the Netherlands, alongside an additional affected person who has since been admitted to Leiden College Medical Centre. A 3rd particular person evacuated from the vessel has been transported to a hospital in Germany, the place they’ve since examined unfavourable for hantavirus.
Three folks misplaced their lives following a current hantavirus outbreak aboard the Dutch-flagged ship, which had 147 passengers and crew members on board. Two of those that died have been named as a person and a lady from Friesland within the Netherlands, whereas the third sufferer was reported to be a German girl.
The remaining passengers nonetheless aboard the Dutch-flagged vessel have been lastly capable of disembark on Monday, bringing an finish to weeks of uncertainty.
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