Plane carrying Brits from rat virus ship touches down in Manchester

Published: 20:48, 10 May 2026 | Updated: 20:56, 10 May 2026 A plane carrying British passengers who spent months on board the hantavirus-stricken MV Hondius has touched down in the UK. The plane landed at Manchester Airport carrying 20 British nationals who disembarked from the ship earlier today. The passengers and crew will now be transferred to an isolation facility at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral, Merseyside. The hospital was previously used to quarantine patients returning from Wuhan at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Emergency services in the North West of England said they expected the passengers to be kept in the 'managed setting' for up to 72 hours. They added that the NHS Trust and hospital is 'operating as normal' with no risk to patients, visitors or staff and 'people should continue to come forward for care as usual'. Following their isolation, public health specialists will assess whether passengers can isolate at home or at another suitable location based on their living arrangements.  They will then stay in self-isolation for 45 days and will not be allowed to take public transport to their homes. A plane carrying repatriated British nationals from the cruise ship MV Hondius, which was affected by a hantavirus outbreak, arrives at Manchester Airport Janelle Holmes, the chief executive of Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said in a letter to staff: 'We have been asked by NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to house the guests, recognising how quickly and positively we responded to and supported the repatriation of British nationals from Wuhan and the Diamond Princess prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. 'We will be welcoming the guests on Sunday May 10, 2026 and they will all be screened for symptoms before they arrive on site; nobody showing any symptoms will be transferred here. 'If anyone becomes unwell after arrival, they will be transferred quickly to another facility.' The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.