Hantavirus-hit cruise ship arrives in Tenerife with Spanish passengers to be evacuated first – Europe live | Hantavirus
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Spanish health minister Monica García speaks to journalists at the port of Granadilla de Abona in Tenerife.
“The last flight of the entire procedure is scheduled for tomorrow, which is the flight to Australia,” he told the press.
García said that the 14 Spaniards on board would leave first, followed by a flight to the Netherlands, in which citizens from Germany, Belgium, Greece and some of the crew would also join.
He added that separate flights were planned for Canadian, Turkish, French, British, Irish and US citizens on Sunday.
Cruise ship hit by hantavirus arrived in Tenerife with Spanish passengers to be evacuated first
Good morning and welcome to our Europe live blog. All passengers on the MV Hondius who contracted hantavirus remained asymptomatic after the ship arrived in Tenerife on Sunday, almost a month after the first passenger died from the rodent-borne disease on board, Spanish health officials said.
“The anchorage was successful despite all the difficulties,” said Mónica García, minister of health, after intense preparations in recent days to receive the ship into the port of Granadilla.
He confirmed that all passengers remained asymptomatic and that the first citizens to be evacuated would be Spaniards. According to Spanish newspaper El País.
García said they underwent a final medical evaluation before leaving the ship and confirmed that all repatriation flights to take citizens back to their countries will depart from tomorrow.
There were 146 passengers from 20 different nationalities on board the MV Hondius, where the outbreak killed three people and caused an international health concern. These countries included the UK, USA, Germany, Canada, Netherlands, Denmark, Philippines and Singapore.
Authorities said passengers and crew who disembark will have no contact with local people in Tenerife. Health officials continue to emphasize that the risk of transmission to the general population is low.
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