- During an event at the Oval Office for maternal health, US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. downplayed the seriousness of the hantavirus outbreak, asserting that the government has it contained and is not concerned.
- “We have this under control and we’re not worried about it,” Kennedy said on Monday while defending the administration's response, stating that steps have been taken to prevent the disease's spread and that the CDC issued an alert as soon as the virus was identified.
- His comments came after Americans from a cruise ship returned to the US, with 18 passengers transported to Nebraska and two to Atlanta for testing and supervision before being released.
- One passenger displayed mild symptoms, and another tested "mildly PCR positive" for the Andes variant of hantavirus.
- The passengers were scheduled to be transported to a facility at the University of Nebraska Medical Center/Nebraska Medicine, before the individual with mild symptoms is taken to another site, the statement said.
