The evacuation of the hantavirus-affected MV Hondius cruise ship must be completed within 24 hours of its arrival in Tenerife on Sunday, or it may face delays of days or even weeks due to adverse weather, authorities warned on Friday. The Dutch-flagged vessel, which was travelling from Argentina to Cape Verde, is expected to anchor off the port of Granadilla early Sunday, triggering what Spain’s health minister has called an “unprecedented operation” to assess and repatriate the 149 passengers and crew on board.
Regional government spokesperson Alfonso Cabello said the only window for the operation is around midday Sunday until conditions change on Monday. “Otherwise, the ship must leave and no operation could be carried out again in theory ... until the end of May,” he said, citing wind and swell. Passengers will be evaluated on the ship and will have no contact with the local population when they are transferred for repatriation or, for the 14 Spanish nationals, to a military hospital in Madrid for compulsory quarantine.
Three people – a Dutch couple and a German national – have died in the outbreak. Four others, including two Britons, a Dutch and a Swiss national, are being treated in hospitals in the Netherlands, South Africa and Switzerland. On Friday, British and Spanish authorities reported two possible new cases: a British national on Tristan da Cunha, where the ship stopped on 15 April, and a woman in Alicante who was on the same flight as a deceased Dutch patient.
Singapore announced that two men who had been on board tested negative for hantavirus but will remain in quarantine for 30 days as a precaution. Australian consular officials are travelling to Tenerife to assist four Australian citizens and one permanent resident on the vessel. The World Health Organization has entrusted Spain with coordinating the operation, which involves 23 countries.
