18 passengers from Hantavirus-hit ship back in U.S.

0:00 Right now, 16 of the 18 Americans evacuated

0:03 from the cruise ship at the center of the hantavirus

0:05 outbreak are at the national quarantine unit of THE UNIVERSITY

0:09 OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER NEARLY FILLING 20 INDIVIDUAL ROOMS,

0:14 INCLUDING ONE AMERICAN WHO TESTED POSITIVE FOR THE VIRUS.

0:17 TWO OTHERS WERE TAKEN TO EMERY UNIVERSITY IN ATLANTA.

0:20 BUT THE MESSAGE TO THE IF YOU WANT

0:21 TO TELL US WHO THE PUBLIC IS, DON'T FREAK OUT.

0:25 NO ONE WHO POSES A RISK TO PUBLIC HEALTH IS WALKING

0:28 OUT THE FRONT DOOR OF THE STREETS OF OMAH OR BEYOND.

0:32 LET ME BE CRYSTAL CLEAR,

0:33 THE RISK OF HANTA VIRUS TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC REMAINS VERY, VERY LOW.

0:39 JOINING ME NOW IS IRAM ADAD,

0:41 INFECTIOUS DISEASE EPIDEMIOLOGIST AT HARVARD'S BELFER

0:44 CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS.

0:46 MS NOW'S JOSH EINIGER IS HERE AS WELL.

0:49 JOSH, TELL US ABOUT THIS PLACE IN NEBRASKA.

0:52 I'VE BEEN GETTING THE QUESTION A LOT OVER THE WEEKEND.

0:54 AND WHAT THE WEEKS AHEAD might look for these patients.

0:57 Yeah, well, Chris, people who've been paying attention to these issues,

0:59 certainly going back through COVID and before then even

1:03 to Ebola in 2014 are familiar with this place.

1:05 It's called the National Quarantine Unit.

1:07 And we have video, file video of what it looks like inside.

1:09 It's 20 rooms with special air-handling facilities,

1:13 and it allows for people to sit

1:15 in what is described actually doesn't look like here,

1:18 but it would have described as a hotel-like setting.

1:22 That's not what this video looks like,

1:23 but I think they also have settings that appear to be more like a hotel room.

1:27 And it's for people who may not be symptomatic, may not be a specific risk,

1:31 but who have to quarantine just in case they might end up

1:35 converting to be positive with whatever is of concern in this case

1:38 hantavirus we can show you what uh what they said earlier

1:41 today about this facility and how it's treating these people today.

1:47 Our quarantine unit is designed for well individuals who need to be monitored.

1:51 It is not a patient care space,

1:53 it's much more like a hotel than a patient care space.

1:58 We don't have the typical things that you'd see in a hospital room.

2:00 It's a much more comfortable environment, actually,

2:03 with some things to help keep people comfortable,

2:05 like exercise equipment, and it's a larger space, you know,

2:10 TVs and things like NICK SCHIFRIN- So, 18 of these patients,

2:14 these past passengers who are being monitored right now,

2:19 they're currently in quarantine in that facility.

2:22 We don't know, Chris,

2:22 if they're all going to end up staying there for the full six weeks,

2:25 or if they're perhaps going to end up going

2:27 back towards their home states to a similar facility, perhaps closer to home.

2:32 But here's why this is so important.

2:34 There were five people of French nationality who came

2:37 off that boat and were repatriated back to France.

2:41 On the flight, one of them developed symptoms

2:44 and is now said to be in pretty bad shape.

2:47 So, it is still possible for this whole period

2:48 of time for any of those 18 people to develop symptoms.

2:53 And that's why they have to be quarantined for that long,

2:55 according to all these doctors.

2:56 Thank you for that, Josh.

2:57 So doctor, how long and how sure can we

2:59 be as we look at the quarantine for these passengers?

3:05 Yeah, well, the incubation period is anywhere from two to 42 days,

3:08 you know, with the mean of about 18, 18 days.

3:11 And so we are still in that incubation period.

3:14 So it's not surprising that we're still

3:16 seeing cases tied to this exposure event.

3:18 We'll probably see potentially more confirmed cases in the days to weeks ahead,

3:22 because, as I mentioned, we are still in incubation period.

3:25 What's important is that we haven't seen any secondary cases,

3:28 meaning from those initial set of CASES, HAVE THEY EXPOSE ANYONE ELSE?

3:32 AND SO WE HAVEN'T SEEN THAT.

3:33 AND SO THAT'S GOOD NEWS.

3:34 AND SO RIGHT NOW THE STRATEGY VERY MUCH IS

3:36 CONTAINMENT AND MONITORING AND THEN DOING THAT RISK-BASED ASSESSMENT.

3:40 WE HAVE CONTINUOUSLY HEARD DOCTOR, WE SHOULD NOT WE'VE PLAYED THAT SOUND.

3:44 THIS IS NOT ANOTHER COVID.

3:46 AND YET, YOU KNOW, THE IMAGES WE SEE

3:49 ARE THESE AMERICANS COMING OFF PLANES WEARING MASKS,

3:52 PUT INTO QUARANTINE, IN SOME CASES WE SAW PEOPLE BEING SPRAYED DOWN.

3:57 DO THE OPTICS MAKE IT HARD TO REASSURE PEOPLE EVERYTHING IS

4:01 FINE OR SHOULD THE OPTICS HELP THEM UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING is fine.

4:06 I think it's really the latter.

4:07 It should help them understand the seriousness of the situation

4:10 and how these public health entities are taking this seriously.

4:13 And because, as you've mentioned in the video,

4:15 none of these individuals are out and about

4:17 that that have repatriated and now back in the United States.

4:20 And so there is a plan in place to continuously monitor them.

4:23 And a lot of these precautions that are

4:25 being taken is out of abundance of caution.

4:27 We know how this virus is being transmitted.

4:30 We are still learning more.

4:31 So the evolution of this virus and the dynamics are still being understood.

4:35 And so a lot of these are just precautionary measures.

4:39 Yesterday, the acting CDC director said that they are fully

4:42 equipped to handle any IT COMES AFTER THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

4:46 LAID OFF THOUSANDS OF CDC SCIENTISTS AND PUBLIC HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

4:52 INCLUDING MEMBERS OF THE AGENCY'S TO BE A PARTICULAR ISSUE,

4:55 IT'S SHIP SANITATION PROGRAM.

4:56 ARE YOU WORRIED?

4:58 ARE DOCTORS WHO YOU TALK TO IN YOUR FIELD CONCERNED ABOUT I

5:06 THINK THERE'S TWO THINGS THAT COULD BE TRUE AT THE SAME TIME.

5:09 FIRST IS THAT THE DISMANTLING OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH

5:12 INFRASTRUCTURE IN THIS COUNTRY IS A huge, huge problem.

5:16 You know, we need to make sure that we are having,

5:18 you know, the full capacity behind this current epidemic.

5:22 You know, we don't want it obviously to get worse.

5:24 It's a bad situation.

5:25 We want to prevent it from getting worse.

5:26 And so making sure that we have, you know, the staffing that we need,

5:30 infrastructure that we need is really, really important.

5:32 And as you've mentioned, the gutting of public health in this country

5:35 in the past few months is very relevant.

5:38 At the same time, I do want to mention

5:39 the current individuals that are working in this multi-state effort,

5:43 these are the clinicians,

5:45 the public health officials, transporters or responders,

5:48 working around the clock to ensure

5:51 the safe and effective repatriation of these passengers,

5:55 the safe monitoring in the current quarantine unit,

5:57 as well as, as we kind of look at it in the next days to weeks,

6:00 if they're going to continue to be

6:02 transported either in their home or their state.

6:04 This is a lot of work and it's heroic work.

6:07 And so I want to thank them for what they're doing.

6:09 This is a lot of coordination happening behind the scenes.

6:12 A lot of folks just kind of see the vehicles and ambulances,

6:15 but they're not seeing the people kind of working to really make

6:19 sure that this is TALK ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING SAFELY AND IN COORDINATION.

6:22 DR.

6:23 SIRU MADDAD AND JOSH EININGER, THANK YOU BOTH.