There are flashbacks to the Covid pandemic as the hospital that once housed evacuees from the virus-wracked city of Wuhan is set to welcome British passengers on a cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak.
Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral was the site where British evacuees coming from Wuhan in China, the infamous city where the coronavirus pandemic was sparked, were brought to begin two weeks’ quarantine in January 2020. An initial 83 were placed in an accommodation block on the site of the hospital, where cruise ship passengers will be housed from this week.
There are currently no symptomatic passengers aboard the MV Hondius, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), speaking on Saturday. The cruise ship arrived in Tenerife at around 5.40am UK time this morning and has begun disembarking passengers.
View 10 ImagesThe Hondius arriving in Tenerife(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Rescue teams, including UK government staff, will immediately begin to evacuate up to 147 people, including 22 Brits, who remain on board the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship. The evacuation must be completed within 24 hours of the vessel reaching the popular holiday island in order to face days or even weeks of delays caused by expected bad weather.
The UN health agency said there had been six confirmed hantavirus cases linked to Hondius and that four patients were currently in hospital. It added that a total of eight cases, including three deaths, had been reported, with one previous suspected case being reclassified after testing negative for hantavirus
The UKHSA said three British nationals are included in the eight cases – two involve confirmed hantavirus and another one is suspected.
Despite concerns, health officials in the UK are warning of a low risk to the public.
View 10 ImagesMedical and security personnel waiting for the arrival of the Hondius(Image: Miguel Barreto/EPA/Shutterstock)
Arrowe Park became known during the early stages of the Covid pandemic when it started housing British citizens evacuated from Wuhan and forced to quarantine for 14 days. It was the first time a site had been used to quarantine people since a tragic case of smallpox in 1978. The facility was dubbed ‘Camp Corona’ by some.
There were people as young as infants up to pensioners, a British Medical Journal reported in May 2020, where they were tended to by a “multidisciplinary team”.
There were several challengers. One was that one of the guests was a 37-week pregnant woman, forcing staff to plan for a potential delivery in quarantine, although they eventually left the unit without giving birth.
View 10 ImagesFencing around one of the accommodation blocks in Arrowe Park Hospital during the pandemic(Image: Liverpool Echo)
Another was the varying understandings guests had about the virus, to which a “considerable amount of time was spent ensuring that everyone understood the basic epidemiology of the virus so that they could understand why we were recommending certain preventative measures”, the review said.
Other considerations included managing the water supply, building ventilation, food, staff movements within the building and hygiene. Although the hantavirus is considered to be significantly less severe than the Covid outbreak, similar challenges may meet Arrowe Park staff in the coming days.
During the 2020 quarantine, staff were forced to tell evacuees their taxpayer-funded takeaways would have to be stopped. Food was provided for, but came mostly in the form of sandwiches and ready meals before a catering company took over, according to the insider account of a then 32-year-old English teacher who spoke to The Guardian at the time.
“People weren’t very impressed,” the teacher recalled.
Those inside Arrowe Park were given games consoles to play, while others busied themselves with books donated by locals or TV comedy classics like Peep Show.
View 10 ImagesGaming consoles and toys being brought into the Arrowe Park Hospital in 2020(Image: PA)
There were also cases of wine being ordered and drunk in paper cups, according to the teacher.
She said: “I think the place is run by a private company on behalf of the NHS. You can email an order to them and two hours later whatever you asked for shows up. There’s a guy who has ordered bottles of wine, spirits and two crates of beer and he’s keeping them in his bedroom.
“Tonight he offered me some wine. I felt like I was going into a bar. He gave me a paper cup full of wine. I thought: ‘Are you kidding me? This is ridiculous!’”
Those who wished to exercise outside didn’t have much but for a stone garden had no grass. Others took to walking the stairs.
View 10 ImagesThe apartment stayed in by evacuee Matt Raw during the Covid quarantine(Image: BBC)
The “banging” bacon and sausage sandwich apparently became a staple of the morning cuisine at Arrowe Park, that is, until “some idiot” decided to complain, according to the 2020 teacher-evacuee.
“That’s the way to start the day, especially when you can’t get good bacon in China,” she said. “But somebody complained about always having the same thing every day so when I went downstairs for breakfast, there were these dismal-looking Danish pastries, some rubbish-looking Dutch cheese and some salami.”
View 10 ImagesArrowe Park housed an initial 83 people in 2020(Image: Dan Rowlands / SWNS.com)
Most people appeared to be getting on fine with the situation, according to the teacher, but further reports at the time suggest some had threatened to abscond from their isolation unit.
Amid the growing turmoil of the unfolding pandemic, there were brief scenes of jubilation as the first evacuees began to leave.
View 10 ImagesMatt Raw raises his fist as he leaves Arrowe Park Hospital(Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Shouts of “we’re free” were heard, while one man selected by NHS England to speak to the media, 38-year-old Matt Raw, raised his fist in celebration as he was let out of the locked gates of the apartment block.
“We’re free … and the sun’s shining,” Matt, from Cheshire, said.
At the time, just nine cases were confirmed in the UK. An estimated 44 million people would go on to have the virus between April 2020 and February 2022.
Matt also became known in February that year when, during the quarantine, he managed to organise a birthday ring to be delivered to his wife, Ying. Wirral Council’s David Armstrong bought the ring from a jeweller in Cheshire, throwing in a bottle of Cava and a cake for good measure.
After evacuees were finally allowed to leave, touching notes were left for staff thanking them for their help during the quarantine.
One left on a hospital window read: “I didn’t want to leave without expressing my deepest gratitude for what you have done for us these past two weeks.
“I arrived as a potential carrier of a deadly virus. I was a little anxious to know how I would be received. I needn’t have been; you greeted us warmly with gifts, cards, flowers and smiles. You made us feel welcome.
“In our time of turmoil you took care of us with compassion and professionalism. The experience has been humbling.”
In January 2022, Arrowe Park hospital was lit up to mark the second anniversary of its first Covid arrivals.
View 10 ImagesPassengers in coaches arrive at Arrowe Park after being repatriated from a cruise ship in 2020. More than 620 people on board the Diamond Princess tested positive for Covid(Image: PA)
Officials from the UKHSA and Foreign Office are greeting the MV Hondius in Tenerife, with Britons on board tested for hantavirus before they disembark. Those who test negative and are not displaying symptoms will be taken straight to a chartered repatriation flight staffed by medical professionals and containing personal protective equipment such as face masks.
The ship has not docked but is remaining at anchor, with people ferried off in small boats. There are currently people of more than 20 different nationalities on board.
Those disembarking will leave behind their luggage and will be allowed to take only a small bag with essential items, a cellphone, charger and documentation. Some crew, as well as the body of a passenger who died on board, will remain on the ship, which will sail on to the Netherlands, where it will undergo disinfection, the minister added.
After returning to the UK, the passengers will be housed in an accommodation block on the Arrowe Park site away from the hospital’s public areas to receive clinical assessments and testing as a precautionary measure.
View 10 ImagesThe Hondius arrived at port in Tenerife this morning(Image: Miguel Barreto/EPA/Shutterstock)
Nobody showing any symptoms will be transferred to Arrowe Park, according to Janelle Holmes, the chief executive of Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
“If anyone becomes unwell after arrival, they will be transferred quickly to another facility,” she said in a letter to staff.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said a specialist Army team and medical personnel have been parachuted onto the British overseas territory Tristan da Cunha with medical aid and equipment.
The UKHSA confirmed on Friday that a British national disembarked from the Hondius onto the island, where they live, with a suspected case of hantavirus.
Six paratroopers, an RAF consultant and an Army nurse from 16 Air Assault Brigade parachuted, while oxygen supplies and medical aid were dropped onto the remote island, which is normally only accessible by boat.
The RAF A400M transport aircraft flew from RAF Brize Norton to Ascension Island, supported by an RAF Voyager, before heading to Tristan da Cunha.
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The MoD said it was the first time medical personnel had been parachuted in to provide humanitarian support.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the safety of “all members of the British family” is the top priority.
She said: “We will continue to work closely with international authorities and the Tristan da Cunha administration, keeping those affected informed and ensuring the right support is in place in the UK and across the Overseas Territories.”