Two planes with 28 passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship, which was hit by a hantavirus outbreak, landed in the Netherlands on Tuesday and a Dutch hospital treating ​a hantavirus patient quarantined 12 staffers in a preventative measure.

The planes landed at Eindhoven ‌Airport shortly after midnight, carrying eight Dutch nationals. Other passengers of different nationalities will continue on to their home countries from the Netherlands, authorities previously said.

The Dutch hospital staff members were placed into preventive quarantine for six weeks ​after blood and urine were handled without updated and more strict protocols, the Radboudumc ​hospital in the city of Nijmegen said, adding that the infection risk is ⁠very low and patient care continues uninterrupted.

Radboudumc admitted a Hondius passenger infected with hantavirus on May ​7.

"We will carefully investigate the course of events to learn from this so that it can ​be prevented in the future," said Bertine Lahuis, the chair of the hospital's executive board.

Meanwhile, the Hondius set sail for the Netherlands late on Monday evening with 25 crew as well as a doctor and a nurse. All passengers ​have disembarked the ship. It is expected to arrive in the Netherlands by May 17, ship ​owner Oceanwide Expeditions said.

Three people - a Dutch couple and a German national - have died since the start of the ‌outbreak ⁠on the ship, which is usually spread by wild rodents but can also be transmitted person-to-person in rare cases of close contact.