Hantavirus cruise ship arrives in Tenerife, passengers begin disembarking
Passengers began being disembarked from the cruise ship amid the hantavirus outbreak. of spain The Ministry of Health said this in a carefully managed repatriation operation involving multiple countries.
The ship named MV Hondius docked at Spain’s Tenerife Island early on Sunday morning, carrying 147 people. It was seen that passengers from the cruise ship anchored in Granadilla Port were transported to the island by small boats.
After reaching the island, passengers got off the plane and boarded buses waiting to be taken to the airport. From there they will be evacuated to their home countries.
Spanish health minister Monica Garcia said shortly before 8am local time (4pm AEST) that medical teams boarded the ship to carry out tests on passengers and crew before leaving the ship.
Since the ship sailed Argentina The deaths of three people last month have been attributed to hantavirus, a rare disease often caused by exposure to the urine or feces of infected rodents, while others were evacuated from the ship for medical treatment.
Local officials previously said the ship would anchor at the “safest” distance from the dock and passengers would be brought to shore in small boats with a maximum capacity of 10 people, depending on their nationality, according to tour operator Oceanwide Expeditions.
Many nations – included WE, Germany, FranceBelgium, Ireland And Holland – They are sending planes to evacuate their citizens on the ship.
All four Australians will be evacuated from the ship.
“The disembarkation order will be coordinated with repatriation flights,” Oceanwide said, adding that passengers’ luggage will remain on the ship and be returned to them later.
An official with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the 17 American passengers, none of whom had symptoms, would be transferred to the University of Nebraska Medical Center, which houses the National Quarantine Unit, a federally funded facility.
After a brief assessment at the unit, passengers may be subject to home monitoring for the next 42 days, with monitoring expected to be at least daily, the official said.
Garcia said 14 Spanish passengers are expected to disembark first and will be wearing FFP2 masks, along with those handling bus transfers and logistics.
The Spanish health ministry said that these people will be taken to a military hospital, where they will stay in separate rooms where visitors are not allowed, and will have a PCR test upon arrival and seven days later.
Garcia said the two Dutch passengers on board would be the second group to leave the ship.
The arrival of the boat caused tension in the Canary Islands, an autonomous region of Spain, and the leader of the region, Fernando Clavijo, said earlier in the week that he was against the ship docking there.
Port workers in Tenerife have also staged protests, expressing concern over a lack of communication about potential risks.
The ship and its crew are scheduled to continue sailing to Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where the crew will be disembarked and the ship will be disinfected.
The hantavirus outbreak was first reported to the World Health Organization on May 2 and remains a low risk to the public, the World Health Organization said.
