Fifteen passengers were welcomed to the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s quarantine unit Monday morning and one person is in the biocontainment unit, according to the unit’s medical director, Dr. Mike Waldman.

The quarantine unit is more like a hotel, while the biocontainment unit is patient-based care, more like a hospital, officials said.

The 15 passengers at the quarantine unit are in “good spirits,” Waldman said.

“We’ve been doing symptom monitoring, as well as temperature checks," he said. "Everyone here is asymptomatic and ... do not have a temperature at this time. They're all resting now and we'll do further assessments later in the day, once they've had a chance to sleep."

The one person in the biocontainment unit is doing well and does not have symptoms, but is “very tired” after a “really long journey,” officials said.

Besides the 16 cruise ship passengers in Nebraska, two cruise ship passengers were flown to Atlanta “for further assessment and care," officials said.

The two patients in Atlanta "are under medical evaluation," officials said, though it is not clear why those two patients traveled to Atlanta.

The “risk of hantavirus to the general public remains very, very low,” Dr. Brian Christine, Assistant Secretary for Health at the Department of Health and Human Services, said at a news conference on Monday.

The Andes variant "does not spread easily, and it requires prolonged, close contact with someone who is already symptomatic," he assured.

Even though, he said, the department has taken the situation "very seriously from the very start."

Initial genetic analyses confirmed that the hantavirus on the Hondius cruise ship is of the "known Andes variant and rule out any relevant mutations," Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia said in a post on social media.

-ABC News’ Victoria Beaulé

Jan Dobrogowski, the captain of the Hondius, recorded a message thanking passengers and crew for their patience during the “extremely challenging” last few weeks.

“What touched me the most, what moved me the most, was your patience, your discipline, and also kindness -- kindness that you show to each other. ... I've witnessed your caring, your unity and quiet strength," Dobrogowski said, according to the Associated Press.

He added, “Our thoughts are with the ones that are no longer with us. ... This can be very painful to the people on board, especially already dealing with grief, worry and perhaps uncertainty.”

The MV Hondius arrived early on Sunday off the coast of Tenerife, dropping anchor near the industrial port of Granadilla at about 5:30 a.m. local time.

Evacuations from the ship were expected to began as soon as possible.

The local government in the Canary Islands, the Spanish archipelago off the northwestern African coast, said it would like everyone off the boat and out of the Canary Islands by today.

They also said they want the boat to depart by end of day.

-ABC News’ Magie Rulli, Dragana Jovanovic and Aicha El Hammar Castano