“It’s Getting Real”: TikToker Links Cruise Ship Virus Case to Joburg Flight Carrying 82 Passengers

• A Cape Town TikToker gives updates about the suspected hantavirus-linked Airlink flight and discusses the Johannesburg-bound passengers
• Airlink reportedly handed passenger details from flight 4Z132 to health authorities after a traveller linked to the rare Andes strain of hantavirus died shortly after landing in SA
• South Africans flooded the comments section with anxious jokes and COVID-19 comparisons while others admitted the situation was stressing them out

A TikTok creator from Cape Town has posted updates about the suspected Andes hantavirus cases linked to passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship and an Airlink flight that landed in Johannesburg. The clip has ignited discussion online.

In the video by TikTok user @bjorn.coetzee, Bjorn discusses reports involving Airlink flight 4Z132, which travelled from St Helena Island to OR Tambo International Airport.

In the clip captioned, “What the helly,” the content creator speaks about reports that a French national who later tested positive for the virus had allegedly been on the same flight as a 69-year-old woman whose husband, died shortly after arriving in Johannesburg.

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“The French national that's tested positive, that's in France, right, that went to France, was on that same flight as the 69-year-old lady that collapsed in Ouattambo, whose husband died on the ship on the 11th of April,”

Bjorn noted the timeline surrounding the cruise ship cases and the flight to South Africa. He also urged anyone who had been aboard flight 4Z132 to contact health authorities for tracing purposes. The TikToker added:

“Sh**** getting real, it’s getting real.”

Briefly News reached out to Bjorn, to get more clarification on the matter. When asked what made him start following the hantavirus cruise ship story so closely, he said:

"Since Covid we hear about random viruses across the world here and there, and don’t give it much thought, but when I heard South Africa is implicated and about the Dutch woman who collapsed in OR Tambo, I thought it better to educate myself on the matter and in turn share what I know, hopefully in a humorous way, with my fellow South Africans."

When he was asked whether social media is helping spread awareness or simply making people panic more, he noted the benefits and cons of the platform as well as his intention of using it:

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"Social media can be very tricky and in my opinion used as a mechanism to cause unnecessary panic. My goal is hopefully to educate and share whatever information I can fact check and cross reference. If any of my social media posts causes panic, I will be the first to take them down"

Airlink confirms authorities requested passenger manifest

According to a report by MyBroadband, Airlink confirmed it handed over the passenger manifest for flight 4Z132 to South Africa’s Department of Health after being informed that a passenger aboard was believed to have been infected with the rare Andes strain of hantavirus.

The airline reportedly said the aircraft carried around 82 passengers and six crew members. Airlink explained that the airline only learned about the possible infection roughly a week after the flight had already taken place. The aircraft was reportedly cleaned and returned to service before officials alerted the company.

The airline also noted that the Embraer aircraft used for the trip was fitted with HEPA air filtration systems designed to help reduce airborne particles and pathogens inside the cabin.

View the TikTok video below:

South Africans flood the comments section

The TikTok comment section quickly filled with nervous jokes, theories and worried reactions from South Africans comparing the situation to the early days of COVID-19.

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Mzansi said this on @bjorn.coetzee's page:

practicalmagic said:

"There were also allegedly over 20 passengers who disembarked in St Helena..."

GHOSTDROID exclaimed:

"We wanted 2016 not 2020!"

rolley_rex added:

"saxophones are getting louder 😭"

~🎧 🌸𝕄𝕚𝕝𝕒 wrote:

"Why SA we were doing so good 😔💔"

Zamokuhle. said

"I hate it here😭😭😭"

More Briefly News Stories on hantavirus

• A cruise ship passenger linked to the suspected Andes hantavirus outbreak broke their silence after being moved to South Africa for treatment, while worried South Africans flooded social media with prayers and fears.
• An old clip of Bill Gates warning about a future deadly pandemic resurfaced online as fears grew over the suspected hantavirus outbreak linked to a cruise ship and passengers travelling through South Africa.
• A hantavirus survivor from the US recalled being placed in a medically induced coma and on life support during her terrifying 2022 battle with the virus as fears grow over the latest confirmed cases linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship.

Source: Briefly News