More than 40 Americans remain in quarantine for up to six weeks following a hantavirus outbreak aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius, identified during its monthlong voyage in early May. The outbreak has killed three people and sickened 11 since its discovery. The 18 Americans aboard arrived stateside before returning to quarantine at facilities designed to house people exposed to infectious diseases. Two patients were monitored at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta before joining 16 others on Friday at the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. None of the Americans has tested positive for the virus, though they could remain isolated for up to 42 days according to the World Health Organization.
Former patients who have endured high-security isolation provide perspective on what the current quarantined passengers face. Dr. Kent Brantly, the first American Ebola patient treated at Emory University Hospital’s biocontainment unit in 2014, spent three weeks in isolation. He lived in a “decent-sized hospital room with its own bathroom” with a nurse wearing personal protective equipment constantly at his bedside, monitoring vital signs and administering IV fluids. He recalls the team “really cared for me holistically as a person—my physical well-being, but also my emotional and mental well-being.”
The Nebraska facility features 20 single-occupancy rooms with special air pressure systems filtering clean air into each room. Social media creator Jake Rosmarin, quarantined since Monday, has documented his experience via Instagram with room tours and daily videos. His room includes a bed, smart TV, and spin bike, with meals delivered three times daily. He has been allowed to order takeout, including Chipotle, and has decorated with posters, blankets, and set up a tea station. According to Rosmarin, the staff has been “amazing,” meeting his every need. Carl Goldman, who contracted COVID-19 aboard the Diamond Princess cruise in February 2020 and spent a month in Omaha, recalled the biocontainment unit felt “like a scene out of the movie ‘The Andromeda Strain,’” with everyone entering wearing hazmat suits. He passed time blogging and recording 10,000 steps daily, and celebrating his birthday with cupcakes and balloons from staff.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/former-contagion-patients-describe-life-in-quarantine-amid-hantavirus-rcna344946