Australian citizens who were on a Dutch-flagged luxury cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus ​outbreak returned home on Friday and will ‌isolate for at least three weeks at a quarantine facility.

Four Australian citizens, a permanent resident and one resident of ​New Zealand landed at an Australian air force ​base near Perth in Western Australia on a ⁠government-chartered flight, local media reported.

Federal Health Minister Mark ​Butler said all members of the group had ​tested negative and did not display symptoms of the virus before they boarded the flight in the Netherlands.

“They will be transported ​immediately to the quarantine facility that’s effectively next ​door, and they will be tested again,” Butler told Sky ‌News.

Eleven ⁠passengers on the MV Hondius have contracted the virus, and three have died, according to the World Health Organisation.

The WHO has recommended a 42-day quarantine for ​all passengers, and ​health experts ⁠have urged calm, noting the virus is far less contagious than COVID-19 and ​poses little risk to the wider ​public.

The hantavirus ⁠is primarily spread by rodents but can, in rare cases, be transmitted between people.

It typically begins ⁠with ​flu-like symptoms, such as fatigue and ​fever, one to eight weeks after exposure, according to the WHO.