International evacuations are being prepared off the coast of Tenerife for passengers on the luxury cruise liner MV Hondius after an outbreak of hantavirus was discovered on board, causing several cases of illness, while the World Health Organisation stresses that the public health risk remains low, Reuters reports.
Countries in Europe and the US are organising the removal of their nationals from the ship bound for a Spanish port near Tenerife, after WHO informed member states of the evacuation arrangements and recommended intensified medical monitoring of passengers for 42 days from the last exposure.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adanom Ghebreyesus said, “I want you to hear me clearly: this is not another COVID. The current public health risk from hantavirus remains low.”
According to the organisation, six cases of infection have been laboratory-confirmed and two more are under suspicion, with a Dutch spouse and a German national among the dead.
The liner is expected to anchor near the island between 03:00 (6:00 Kiev time – Ifu) and 05:00 (8:00 Kiev time – Ifu), after which the evacuation will last from Sunday to Monday in the industrial port of Granadilla.
Passengers will be brought ashore in sealed and secured vehicles through an isolated corridor, followed by repatriation to their countries of origin, while their luggage and the body of the deceased will remain on board until disinfection is completed.
Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands have already dispatched planes to evacuate their citizens, the EU is sending two additional planes for other European passengers, and the US and UK are preparing their own flights and contingency plans.