The evacuation of the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius has begun off the coast of Tenerife, with Spanish health officials describing the operation as "unprecedented" on Sunday morning. All passengers remain asymptomatic, authorities confirmed.
Evacuation Plan and Repatriation
Passengers will board sealed-off buses to the island's main airport, approximately 10 minutes away, to board repatriation planes heading to their respective countries. Spanish nationals are the first to disembark, with other nationalities following in groups, government officials stated on Saturday.
The 22 British passengers on board are expected to be flown back to the UK on the same day. They will be tested on the ship before disembarking and then taken directly from the ship to the plane. Upon arrival, they will be transported to Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral, Merseyside, for "clinical assessment and testing", health officials said. They will be held for 72 hours, after which specialists will decide whether they can isolate at home or another suitable location. British passengers will have to self-isolate for 45 days.
Protest and Concerns
The ship's arrival has been met with protest on the island, as residents fear possible exposure to the virus. In pictures, UK hospitals prepare for the arrival of Hondius passengers.
What Is Hantavirus?
A suspected hantavirus outbreak aboard the cruise ship has claimed three lives. There are five confirmed and three suspected cases of the virus, including two people who returned to the UK and a British man in hospital in the Netherlands. Several people who were on board the MV Hondius are isolating.
The World Health Organization (WHO) stated that detailed investigations are currently underway, including extensive laboratory testing and epidemiological studies to understand the virus's spread. Sequencing of the virus from the current outbreak is also ongoing. Hantaviruses, which have been present for centuries, have a documented history of outbreaks across Asia and Europe, but human-to-human transmission is rare.
Operation Details
Passengers dressed in blue protective suits boarded military buses for evacuation. The first group of passengers, all Spanish nationals, began disembarking into a small boat from the cruise ship, headed to Tenerife's Port of Granadilla. They are transported directly from the port in military buses to the airport and evacuated by a Spanish government plane to Madrid, where they will be taken to hospital and quarantined.
Spanish health minister Monica Garcia said on Sunday that passengers from the Netherlands will be the next group to leave the vessel, and their plane will also transport passengers from Germany, Belgium, and Greece. After that, passengers from Turkey, France, the UK, and the US will be evacuated. "The final flight of the operation is departing from Australia... It is the most complex flight and is scheduled to arrive tomorrow afternoon," Ms Garcia added, stating that the final flight would pick up six people from Australia, New Zealand, and other Asian countries.
The plan to offload the remaining 147 passengers and crew on board MV Hondius, travelling from Cape Verde to Tenerife, has been planned down to the last minute and is also racing against the weather, reports Renée Boskaljon in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria.
