Last six passengers leave Hantavirus-hit ship
The last six passengers and some crew of the hantavirus-hit MV Hondius left the ship on the Spanish island of Tenerife after the captain praised their patience and discipline during an “extremely challenging” few weeks.
Spain’s health ministry said strong winds forced the polar expedition ship carrying the remaining passengers – four Australians, a Briton living in Australia and a New Zealander – to briefly dock at the port of Granadilla de Abona to allow them to disembark safely and fly to the Netherlands, where they will spend time in quarantine.
The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the 19 crew members on the ship and the three doctors who treated them will depart for the Netherlands on a separate flight.
Health officials said the MV Hondius continued its voyage to the Netherlands (flag state) on Monday with 26 crew members, where it will be disinfected.
“I couldn’t have imagined sailing under these conditions with a better group of people, guests and crew,” Dutch Captain Jan Dobrogowski said in a video posted on Oceanwide Expeditions’ website.
The confirmed cases include a French passenger who tested positive after the ship docked in the Canary Islands on Sunday.
French Health Minister Stephanie Rist said his condition was worsening.
The US Department of Health and Human Services said one of the 17 US citizens repatriated also tested mildly positive for Andean virus.
US President Donald Trump said that he was satisfied with his country’s fight against the epidemic.
“It seems like it’s a disease that we’ve had in a very small way for a long time. It’s not a good disease to catch because it’s a very serious disease if you catch it – you know, but it’s very hard to catch,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday.
As the MV Hondius approached the Canary Islands late last week, despite protests from the regional government about the risk of spreading the virus, Spain’s health minister and the World Health Organization said all passengers were “asymptomatic”.
The country’s health ministry added that the results of tests on 14 Spanish passengers currently quarantined in a military hospital in Madrid will be announced on Monday.
However, health officials appealed for calm to the public scarred by the experience of the Covid-19 outbreak, saying there was little risk to the general public because the virus does not spread easily between people.
MV Hondius was carrying 147 passengers and crew from 23 countries when reports of serious respiratory illnesses among passengers were first reported to WHO on 3 May.
By then, another 34 passengers had disembarked on islands in the Atlantic before the cruise ship headed north towards the Cape Verde Islands, where news of the outbreak emerged.
It was first detected by health officials treating a British man who had disembarked in Johannesburg on May 2.
This was three weeks after the death of the first Dutch traveler.
The luxury cruise ship set sail for Spain’s Canary Islands on May 6 after Madrid agreed to the WHO’s request for evacuation management.
Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s director of epidemic and pandemic management, said at a briefing that she recommended a 42-day quarantine for all travelers.
