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Gómez Ulla receives 14 isolated Spaniards after a hantavirus outbreak
Madrid has activated a major health operation after the arrival of 14 Spaniards from the MV Hondius cruise ship, where a hantavirus outbreak was detected. The passengers — thirteen travellers and one crew member — were transferred on Monday to Hospital Central de la Defensa Gómez Ulla under strict safety and isolation measures, in an operation that altered the hospital's usual surroundings and drew the attention of residents and onlookers in Carabanchel.
The convoy left the military base in Torrejón de Ardoz and covered the 34 kilometres to the hospital escorted by Policía Nacional officers and motorcycle officers. On arrival, the passengers went directly to the isolation ward through a closed circuit designed to avoid any contact with other patients or staff not involved in the operation.
Inside Gómez Ulla, the routine also changes. The travellers will remain in individual rooms, with no visitors and under constant medical surveillance for the duration of the quarantine. The protocol includes PCR tests, daily temperature checks and specific monitoring for possible symptoms such as fever, vomiting or breathing difficulties.
If any patient develops symptoms compatible with the virus, they will be moved to negative-pressure isolation areas, one of the most specialised systems for controlling infectious diseases. The hospital also has a High-Level Isolation and Treatment Unit prepared for this kind of exceptional situation.
The operation has made it necessary to reinforce coordination among different public services. Policía Nacional, Guardia Civil, the Armed Forces, Civil Protection and External Health have taken part in a deployment unusual even for Madrid, a city accustomed to managing large emergency and security operations.
The hospital has insisted on conveying reassurance. Specialised healthcare staff are working with protocols already rehearsed in other health crises and remind people that the travellers are contacts under observation, not seriously ill patients. The monitoring is intended precisely to detect any possible case before complications appear.
The health monitoring is not only a preventive matter. Hantavirus is an uncommon but potentially very serious infection, capable of causing severe respiratory failure and with mortality rates that can exceed 35% in some cases. Although authorities insist that the risk to the general population remains low, the rapid activation of isolation protocols seeks to prevent any possible chain of transmission and contain a virus that, in certain variants such as that detected in this outbreak, can spread between people through close contact.
UPDATE: The situation has changed since the beginning of the quarantine. The first Spanish person to test positive for hantavirus has already been discharged after overcoming the illness and testing negative in the tests required by the protocol. By contrast, the second confirmed case, detected during the monitoring of travellers from the MV Hondius, remains in the Gómez Ulla High-Level Isolation and Treatment Unit after developing a low-grade fever. The remaining passengers continue under observation, without symptoms and with negative tests, awaiting further checks that could allow them to continue isolation at home if no new positive cases appear.