A doctor at the Paris hospital treating a French passenger infected during the deadly hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship said the patient remains in extremely critical condition and is receiving treatment through an artificial lung support system.

Xavier Lescure, an infectious disease specialist at Bichat Hospital in Paris, said the patient is suffering from a severe form of the virus that has caused life-threatening complications affecting the lungs and heart.

He explained that the woman is connected to a life-support device that pumps blood through an artificial lung to oxygenate it before returning it to the body, expressing hope that the treatment will reduce pressure on the lungs and heart and allow them time to recover.

Lescure described the procedure as “the final stage of supportive care.”

Meanwhile, British authorities announced that 10 people from remote islands, including cruise passengers and medical staff who had contact with confirmed hantavirus cases, will be transferred to the United Kingdom for precautionary quarantine.

The UK Health Security Agency said the individuals had already been isolated and were not showing symptoms, stressing that the measure was purely precautionary and that the risk to the general public remains low.

The agency added that it will continue contact tracing and monitoring individuals linked to the cruise ship.

In Italy, the Health Ministry said biological samples from two people are being tested for hantavirus infection: an Argentine tourist hospitalized with pneumonia and a man from Calabria who is voluntarily isolating.