Overview
- The Public Health Commission approved the updated protocol on Thursday, June 4, establishing that hospital discharge requires at least three days without symptoms plus two negative PCRs from urine and an oropharyngeal swab taken 48 hours apart.
- The first confirmed passenger from the MV Hondius met the new criteria and was discharged home on June 4 with a six-month clinical follow-up plan that includes monthly blood tests until PCR negativity.
- A second confirmed patient who tested positive on May 25 remains in the UATAN at Hospital Gómez Ulla after developing a recent low-grade fever and will need the same symptom-free and PCR criteria before release.
- Twelve identified close contacts remain asymptomatic under a quarantine regime that lasts up to 42 days with an option to continue at home after 28 days and final testing by the National Microbiology Center before release.
- The stricter measures respond to studies showing Andes hantavirus RNA can persist in blood and semen for months, so the protocol also advises avoiding unprotected sex for at least four months and avoiding activities with blood-contact risk until blood PCR is negative.