One of the Americans who was aboard the cruise doomed by a deadly hantavirus outbreak gave an inside look at what the strict 42-day isolation period inside the country’s top quarantine hospital is like and recalled the final days of the ill-fated voyage.
Jake Rosmarin, a Boston-based travel influencer, said the trip aboard the MV Hondius served as a once-in-a-lifetime journey that turned into a nightmare during the final days of the cruise when the disease claimed three lives.
“We got to visit some remarkable places and things that I never thought I would experience, and things really didn’t go downhill until that last 24 to 48 hours before we were originally supposed to disembark on May 4,” Rosmarin told News Nation.
The MV Hondius was docked in Argentina when one of the passengers, Leo Schilperoord, 69, was found to have contracted what is believed to be an Andes strain of the hantavirus during his pursuit of rare birds in South America prior to the trip.
The virus claimed the lives of Schilperoord and his wife, along with a woman from Germany who had spent time with the couple.
Rosmarin was among the people on board the doomed boat sharing the experience on social media after the ship reached Cape Verde and was not allowed to disembark for fear of a greater outbreak.
“I’m currently on board the MV Hondius, and what’s happening right now is very real,” an emotional Rosmarin told his followers at the time.
Now back in the US and on his seventh day of isolation at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s National Quarantine Unit, in Omaha, Rosmarin said there’s nothing to do but wait for the 42-day quarantine period to end.
Rosmarin, who did not contract the virus, said the 17 Americans at the facility must remain inside their rooms, with individual ventilation systems in place to prevent any cross-contamination.
“Most of the day, we’re just spending in the room with nothing for us to do,” he told News Nation.
The only human contact he has is with medical staff during the morning and evening check-ins, as well as virtual town hall meetings with the staff to explain the ongoing situation.
“Other than that, it’s me just trying to keep myself busy, eating three meals a day, and family and friends have sent puzzles,” Rosmarin added.
At least one American initially tested positive for the hantavirus, with a second showing mild symptoms, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Stephen Kornfeld — the American who tested positive — has since tested negative, with officials believing he only exhibited a false positive after coming down with flu-like symptoms on the cruise.
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