N.Y. man who was on hantavirus cruise ship says Nebraska isolation center feels like ‘prison’
A New York state man who was aboard the cruise ship Hondius — which became the center of a hantavirus outbreak that killed three people earlier this month — compared being forced to quarantine at a Nebraska health care facility to being in “jail.”
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The 30-year-old man, who asked not to be identified due to concerns for his safety and harassment from other named passengers, told NBC News by phone that he wished he could quarantine at home.
Instead, he and several others are being held at a facility in Omaha for up to 42 days, the full incubation period of hantavirus.
“I’m being held here against my will, so in that sense it’s a prison sentence, I mean, it’s a perfectly nice prison, but I’m still here against my will,” he said.
The man said he was frustrated by “the bad faith with which they handled this from the beginning,” and stressed that he and others understood the need to quarantine and would comply with any order; they just want to do it at home.
The Hondius returned to the Netherlands on Monday after an 8,500-mile journey from southern Argentina, during which up to 11 people contracted the Andean strain of hantavirus, which can be transmitted between people.
The 18 Americans on board were flown back to the United States, eventually all ending up at the National Quarantine Unit, a specialized facility in Omaha.
The cruise took nearly 150 people on a sightseeing trip to some of the world’s most remote places, but became the center of global attention after the death of a Dutch passenger on board on April 11.
The passenger’s body was taken to the small Atlantic island of Saint Helena, along with that of his wife, who died while returning to the Netherlands. Another passenger, a German national, died on May 2.
The New York man said he was contacted by a New York Health Department official when he arrived last week to ask how they could help him quarantine at his home.
But then on Sunday, he said CDC staff told the 18 Americans on a Zoom call that, in fact, they couldn’t leave. He says passengers were told that if they tried to leave, they would receive a formal quarantine order.
The man says he asked to see legal documents barring him from leaving and has since received two federal quarantine orders, reviewed by NBC News. The CDC has confirmed their authenticity.
The orders state that the man is “at highest risk of developing symptoms during the first 21 days of the incubation period,” which lasts until May 31, and that leaving before then to isolate at home “would potentially endanger public health.” It is not clear whether they will be allowed to leave after May 31.
One states that violating the order could result in “a criminal fine or up to a year in prison.”
The passenger points out that the 18 Americans in the national quarantine unit want to remain isolated for the entire 42-day period, and that some want to stay at the Omaha facility. He and others, he said, regained hope when health authorities said they could strictly isolate at home.
“What we don’t understand is why they suddenly changed their minds and told us we couldn’t follow the CDC guidelines and end the quarantines at home,” he said. “I’m very angry about this. I don’t like being lied to.”
In response to the passenger’s description of the facility as a “prison,” the CDC referenced comments from Dr. David Fitter, incident manager for the agency’s hantavirus response.
“It’s a fantastic facility. We really appreciate the state of Nebraska and the University of Nebraska Medical Center for everything they’ve done,” he said May 13. “It’s a great place for them to be able to do that, but also for us to continue to coordinate the best monitoring for them.”
