A New Zealander, four Australian citizens, and an Australian permanent resident aboard the cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak, will be in Australia within days as officials manage the "difficult" preparations.
The group have touched down in the Netherlands after they were among the last passengers to evacuate from the MV Hondius after it reached port at Tenerife in the Canary Islands.
Three passengers have died after travelling on the vessel, with several more suspected or confirmed cases of the deadly hantavirus.
Kiwi evacuated from virus-hit cruise now bound for remote quarantine - Watch on TVNZ+
Australia's ambassador to the Netherlands Dr Greg French met the New Zealander and Australians in the Netherlands as they arrived around 10.30am on Tuesday (NZST). Dr French spoke with them briefly at a distance due to health protocols.
The group will undergo initial quarantine in the Netherlands, where they will be allowed to stay only for 48 hours before continuing their journey to Perth.
It was understood none of the passengers flying to Australia were displaying symptoms of the virus.
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs was handling the repatriation flights, which would include medical personnel.
Health Minister outlines arrangements
"This is a difficult arrangement to make," Health Minister Mark Butler told ABC on Tuesday morning.
"You've got to have crew that are willing to isolate at the end of the flight, you've got to have a flight that has some refuelling arrangements put in place between the Netherlands and Australia."
Upon landing at RAAF Base Pearce in North-east Perth, the returning travellers will be securely transported to a nearby federal government run quarantine facility – the Bullsbrook Centre for National Resilience. It was built next to RAAF Base Pearce during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Butler said the group would quarantine for at least three weeks, at which point the federal government would take advice on future arrangements. Critical care and trauma response staff would provide care for the passengers.
The World Health Organisation recommended home or facility quarantine for high-risk contacts for 42 days following last exposure to hantavirus.
Butler stressed the quarantine requirements were strict compared to those imposed by the other nations repatriating passengers.
"This is probably the strongest quarantine response of any country that is taking passengers back from this cruise ship," Butler said.
Hantaviruses were a group of viruses usually spread by rodent droppings and were not easily transmitted between people. The MV Hondius had been carrying 147 passengers and crew from 23 countries and departed from Argentina on April 1.
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