RFK Jr. denies release from quarantine for cruise ship passenger exposed to hantavirus

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered that a cruise ship passenger who was exposed to hantavirus be held in quarantine. 

Angela Perryman is symptom-free five weeks after she left the cruise ship, and she remained in quarantine at a Nebraska facility as of Tuesday. Federal officials required that anyone returning home needed daily in-person monitoring and round-the-clock surveillance by authorities. 

Florida officials called the conditions "overkill" and a "waste of resources. They proposed Perryman do a once-daily temperature check and symptoms assessment, which experts agreed was reasonable. 

Courtney Spencer, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, told the Associated Press that the state of Florida wasn't complying with federal requirements for monitoring Perryman if she were to return home. Spencer said Perryman's quarantine was needed to protect herself and her community. 

In previous outbreaks, symptoms of hantavirus took as long as 42 days to appear. The Americans in quarantine were to be monitored at the Nebraska facility or at home for 42 days. That period will expire on June 21. 

Perryman told the Associated Press that she feels she's being "dehumanized" at the facility. She said she wants to be able to "walk outside and put my feet in the grass." She also wants to see people who aren't in full personal protective equipment.