Early Monday, a government plane touched down at Omaha International and delivered 15 Americans from the cruise ship MV Hondius to the National Quarantine Unit on the University of Nebraska Medical Center campus. Doctors in full protective gear escorted the weary travelers to single‑occupancy rooms equipped with private bathrooms, Wi‑Fi and exercise gear. Staff of more than 100 clinicians prepared the facility for the arrival over the weekend.

The unit, built in 2020 after the Diamond Princess outbreak, features two hallways of 20 pressure‑controlled rooms that prevent contaminated air from escaping. Each 300‑square‑foot space includes a bed, window and an autoclave for sterilizing waste. A separate biocontainment unit across the street, one of 13 nationwide, now houses a passenger who tested positive for hantavirus, while two mildly symptomatic travelers were sent to an Atlanta hospital for observation.

All 15 occupants are asymptomatic, ranging from their late 20s to 80s, and face a quarantine that could extend up to 42 days. Psychologists will run virtual group sessions, and officials say patients may request early home quarantine after thorough assessment. For now, visitors are barred, and the cohort settles into what doctors describe as surprisingly comfortable accommodations.