Rotterdam, May 18: A cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak is scheduled to arrive in the port city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands on Monday morning.

The MV Hondius has spent the past six days sailing from the Canary Islands, where the remaining passengers were escorted off the vessel by personnel in full-body protective gear and boarded flights to more than 20 countries to enter quarantine.

The outbreak on the ship has reached 11 cases, nine of which have been confirmed, according to the World Health Organisation. Three passengers have died, including a Dutch couple who health officials believe were the first exposed to the virus while visiting South America.

The vessel has made the journey from Tenerife up the coast of Africa and Europe with 25 crew members and two medical personnel. According to the ship operator Oceanwide Expeditions, no one on board is experiencing any symptoms.

Crew members who are unable to return home will be quarantined in the Netherlands, the Dutch health ministry said last week. Some two dozen passengers and crew are already in quarantine in the Netherlands, after arriving in the country on a series of flights over the previous two weeks.

The Public Health Agency of Canada said Sunday that one of the four Canadians in isolation after leaving the ship had tested positive. The case was not yet reflected in the WHO data.

Eighteen Americans are currently under observation at specialised healthcare facilities in the United States designed to treat people with dangerous infectious diseases.

Dr Bonnie Henry, the public health officer for the province of British Columbia, said Saturday the person had received a “presumptive positive” but further testing would be conducted at the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg.

After everyone on board has disembarked, the ship will be decontaminated based on Dutch public health guidelines. “Personal protective measures are being taken to ensure that the cleaners do not need to quarantine after the cleaning,” the health ministry said in a letter to the Dutch parliament last week.

Public health officials will inspect the vessel before it is allowed to sail again. The hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius is the first known case on a cruise ship.

The Dutch company that owns the cruise ship said it doesn’t foresee any changes to its operations. It has an Arctic cruise setting sail from Keflavik, Iceland, on May 29.

France’s Pasteur Institute said on Saturday it has fully sequenced the Andes virus detected in a French passenger from the MV Hondius cruise ship and found that it matched viruses already known in South America, with no evidence so far of new characteristics that would make it more transmissible or more dangerous.

New Delhi, May 18: US President Donald Trump has warned Iran that “the clock is ticking” as negotiations aimed at ending the ongoing conflict appeared to have hit a deadlock, according to a report by the BBC.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said Iran must act quickly to avoid further devastation. “They better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!” Trump wrote ahead of his scheduled talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The warning came amid growing uncertainty over the future of the ceasefire and diplomatic efforts between Washington and Tehran.

Iranian media reports claimed that the United States had failed to offer any meaningful concessions in response to Tehran’s latest proposals aimed at ending the war. Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency said the lack of compromise from Washington could lead to an “impasse in the negotiations”.

Trump’s latest remarks resounded his earlier warning that a “whole civilisation” could perish unless Iran agreed to a deal to end hostilities. He had also said earlier this week that the ceasefire was on “massive life support” after rejecting Tehran’s demands, describing them as “totally unacceptable”.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei defended Tehran’s proposals, calling them “responsible” and “generous”.

According to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, Tehran’s conditions included an immediate halt to the war across all fronts, including Israeli military operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon, an end to the US naval blockade of Iranian ports, and guarantees against future attacks on Iran. The proposals also sought compensation for war damages and reaffirmation of Iran’s sovereignty over the strategically important Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported that Washington had responded with five conditions, including a demand that Iran retain only one operational nuclear facility and transfer its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to the United States.

In a possible shift in Washington’s stance, Trump indicated on Friday that he could accept a 20-year suspension of Iran’s nuclear programme instead of insisting on its complete dismantling, long considered a key sticking point in negotiations. The tensions have triggered a sharp rise in global oil prices, while the United States has continued enforcing a blockade on Iranian ports to pressure Tehran into accepting its terms.