The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) says nine asymptomatic people who were contacts of someone with hantavirus are expected to arrive in the UK on Sunday evening. The group includes contacts from St Helena and Ascension Island, after exposure to a person who later developed hantavirus symptoms. UKHSA states the nine arrivals will be transferred to an isolation facility at Arrowe Park Hospital near Liverpool for assessment and monitoring.

UKHSA also reports that a medic from Ascension Island who developed symptoms after contact with an infected individual is already in a UK hospital for treatment, with further testing and assessment planned. In addition, the UK is monitoring around 20 former passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship, where the outbreak began in April. UKHSA says these people were flown back from the Canary Islands last Sunday; eight have already left Arrowe Park Hospital and will self-isolate at home for 45 days.

Health officials note there are no vaccines or specific treatments for hantavirus and that comparisons with the Covid-19 pandemic are not considered appropriate. Sources also indicate the global death toll is three.