Omaha Steaks, Nerf basketball and Hazmat suits: Former contagion patients describe life in quarantine amid Hantavirus

As more than 40 Americans remain in quarantine for up to six weeks following a hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship, former patients who spent time inside some of the country’s highest-security medical isolation units during previous viral contagions are sharing what it’s like to endure weeks cut off from the outside world.

As more than 40 Americans remain in quarantine for up to six weeks following a hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship, former patients who spent time inside some of the country’s highest-security medical isolation units during previous viral contagions are sharing what it’s like to endure weeks cut off from the outside world.

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“I want the people who are being affected by this, who are in quarantine or who have loved ones who are in quarantine, to rest assured that they are in the best of hands,” Dr. Kent Brantly, who spent weeks in isolation after contracting Ebola in 2014, told NBC News. “They are in the best place to be taken care of.”

The outbreak has killed three people and sickened 11 since it was first identified aboard the expedition cruise ship MV Hondius during its monthlong voyage in early May. The 18 Americans aboard the ship arrived stateside on Monday after days inside their cabins, before returning to quarantine in facilities designed to house people exposed to infectious diseases.