SouthernWorldwide.com – An American woman claims she is being held against her will in a quarantine facility in Omaha, Nebraska, following a potential hantavirus scare on a cruise ship.
Angela Perryman, 47, was expecting a brief period of observation after arriving on the MV Hondius cruise ship. However, she was served with a federal order requiring her to remain in quarantine for at least two additional weeks.
The order stipulates that Perryman must stay at the facility until May 31, marking a total of 21 days since her arrival. She stated that officials warned her that any attempt to leave could lead to law enforcement intervention.
Perryman, who resides in Ecuador but also has a home in South Florida, expressed her frustration to The New York Times. “They won’t let us isolate at home,” she said. “We’re being kept in a secured facility and threatened if we try to leave.”
She revealed that her hantavirus test result came back negative, and she is not exhibiting any symptoms. However, she did have a brief conversation with a passenger who later succumbed to the disease.
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The federal order, which Perryman shared with the Times, indicates that she could “constitute a probable source of infection to other people” if she were to leave the facility and travel to another state.
Following a medical review within 72 hours, Perryman was informed that she has the right to appeal the order. She has indicated to the Times that she intends to pursue legal action.
The quarantine unit is equipped with 20 single-occupancy rooms, each featuring negative air pressure systems and private bathrooms. The facility also offers exercise equipment and Wi-Fi connectivity, according to the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Global Center for Health Security website.
This quarantine order was reportedly approved by Jay Bhattacharya, the acting head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and was issued under federal public health authority.
Perryman is among a total of 18 American passengers from the MV Hondius who have been under observation at the quarantine unit since the previous week.
An additional seven passengers who had already left the ship and returned home before the outbreak was discovered are being monitored by their respective state and local health departments, as per the CDC’s guidance.
Officials are taking extreme precautions due to the Andes strain of hantavirus, which, although not highly contagious like COVID-19, has a rare potential for person-to-person transmission.
The World Health Organization has reported that at least three individuals connected to the outbreak on the ship have died, with other passengers also falling ill.
The federal government last implemented a large-scale quarantine order in January 2020. At that time, nearly 200 Americans evacuated from Wuhan, China, the initial epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, were required to isolate for two weeks at the March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, California.
“Typically, we don’t hold people against their will unless there is no alternative,” Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the pandemic center at Brown University’s School of Public Health, commented to The Times.
