American Opens Up About Joys, Woes of Hantavirus Quarantine

A week into his quarantine at a specialized facility in Nebraska, Jake Rosmarin has gotten into a routine. He starts each day by checking his temperature and making his morning latte, thanks to the espresso machine sent by a friend. Then, he’ll show doctors at the facility the results of the temperature check, eat his breakfast and get some exercise by doing a virtual workout class or using the stationary bike in his room at the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

In the coming days, he plans to work on the puzzles and Lego sets that are among the many gifts that have been sent to him by family, friends and strangers. “Ive been just kind of getting the hang of a routine,” Rosmarin, a travel content creator from Boston who has been documenting his life in quarantine for his social media followers, told Newsweek about his stay so far. “Decorating my room, making it feel more homey, staying in touch with family and friends, trying to make the time go by quickly,” He is one of 18 Americans being monitored at the National Quarantine Unit after being evacuated from the MV Hondius , the ship at the center of a hantavirus outbreak that has left three people dead.

Two of the passengers from the ship had initially been sent to be monitored in Atlanta, but have since been moved to the Nebraska facility. Jake Rosmarin told Newsweek about his stay so far in the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. Testing, Quarantine and Caution Hantaviruses usually spread when people inhale contaminated residue of rodent droppings.

But the hantavirus that caused the current outbreak, called the Andes virus, may be able to spread between people in rare cases. Still, public health officials have said the risk to the general public from the outbreak remains low. There are no hantavirus cases among the U.