Eight Dutch passengers from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship MV Hondius landed at Eindhoven air base on Sunday evening.
They arrived on a government-chartered flight from Tenerife and are now heading straight into six weeks of home quarantine.
The flight touched down just before 8:30 PM, carrying not only the eight Dutch nationals but also 18 passengers from 10 other countries.
The Dutch government arranged the evacuation after the Hondius docked at Granadilla de Abona, a municipality in the south of Tenerife, earlier that day.
Six weeks at home, with daily GGD check-ins
The Dutch passengers are now making their way home, where they face a strict six-week thuisquarantaine (home quarantine).
For the next six weeks, they must take their temperature twice daily and keep the GGD (municipal health service) updated by phone each day.
A multinational evacuation
The Dutch were far from the only passengers being repatriated through Eindhoven.
The flight also carried people from Germany, the Philippines, Belgium, India, Argentina, Greece, Guatemala, Montenegro, Portugal, and Ukraine.
German authorities dispatched firefighters with a specialist infectious disease ambulance to collect their four nationals, broadcaster WDR reports.
Two Belgian passengers were taken by a Belgian defence ambulance to a hospital in Antwerp for examination. According to VRT Nieuws, those who test clear will return home for quarantine, while anyone who develops symptoms will remain in hospital isolation.
What happens next?
The Dutch government has another flight scheduled to pick up part of the Hondius crew from Tenerife today. Other crew members will sail the ship back to the Netherlands.
READ MORE | Hantavirus in the Netherlands: what is it, who’s at risk, and how to stay safe
Both the WHO and the RIVM have stated there is no reason to anticipate a wider outbreak.
The Andes variant is only known to spread between people in very rare cases involving prolonged, close contact, and does not naturally occur outside North and South America.
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