The Dutch couple who died from the coronavirus had traveled for several months in South American countries before boarding the MV Hondius cruise ship, according to a statement from Argentina's Health Ministry. At the same time, contact tracing and tracking of passenger movements are continuing, while special air ambulances are transporting possible cases to the Netherlands and Germany under strict security measures. Argentina's Health Ministry announced that the Dutch couple, who died from the coronavirus, had traveled for several months in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay before boarding the MV Hondius cruise ship.
According to the ministry's press release, the process of recording the movements of Dutch passengers who showed the first symptoms of the virus during the cruise is underway.
Argentine authorities stressed that "it has not been confirmed that they were infected in Argentina," while noting that the Argentine part of Tierra del Fuego, from where the MV Hondius sailed on April 1, "has not reported a case of hantavirus since 1996, when mandatory case reporting was implemented."
A plane carrying at least one cruise ship passenger landed at Amsterdam-Schiphol airport in the evening, according to an AFP journalist.
The specially designed air ambulance had departed from Praia, Cape Verde, and landed at 20:47 p.m.
There is no official information yet on how the patient left the airport. However, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) announced that its medical staff was on standby to receive the patient from the cruise ship.
The hospital also noted that "all preventive measures have been taken to avoid transmission" of the disease and assured patients already hospitalized that they are not in any danger.
Earlier, the fire department in Düsseldorf, western Germany, said an asymptomatic passenger who had been in close contact with a confirmed case of coronavirus would be taken to a local hospital.
Meanwhile, a second air ambulance bound for the Netherlands was forced to land in the Canary Islands due to a technical problem.
According to the Spanish Ministry of Health, another plane will have to be sent to take the two patients on board.
