First Passengers Evacuated From Hantavirus Cruise Ship in Tenerife
The BBC reported Sunday that the first passengers evacuated from the hantavirus-stricken hantavirus cruise ship MV Hondius have landed in Madrid after departing Tenerife’s airport aboard a chartered flight. Fourteen Spanish nationals made up the initial group. They now face compulsory quarantine at a military hospital in the Spanish capital.
Hazmat Protocols Greet Passengers on the Tarmac
Before boarding their flight, evacuees had white protective suits pulled over their clothing by ground staff. Workers then hosed the passengers down on the airport tarmac before allowing them to proceed. French nationals were reported to be the second nationality group scheduled to depart.
Spain’s Health Minister Mónica García described the broader operation as proceeding normally. She added that all remaining passengers and crew aboard the Hondius were showing no symptoms at the time of departure. The WHO’s director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus travelled to Tenerife personally to oversee the disembarkation and said the process was going well.
A Month of Death and Containment at Sea
The MV Hondius arrived at the port of Granadilla in the early hours of Sunday, roughly one month after the first passenger death was recorded on board. Authorities enforced a security perimeter of one nautical mile around the vessel as it approached land. The ship was not permitted to dock directly onshore.
Medical teams boarded the Hondius around dawn to screen every person for signs of infection. The outbreak has been linked to a landfill site in Argentina’s far south, a location frequented by birdwatchers. The Andes strain of hantavirus involved in this incident is carried by rodents and can, under certain conditions, pass between humans. Three passengers have died in total.
Quarantine Timelines Stretch Into Weeks
The WHO has recommended a 42-day isolation period for all passengers, calculated from their last possible exposure. That reflects the virus’s incubation window of up to nine weeks. British passengers are being taken to an isolation facility for an initial 72-hour assessment. Medics will then determine whether home isolation is appropriate based on individual living situations. Australian nationals are expected to depart on the final evacuation flight, scheduled for Monday.
Dozens of intensive care specialists were placed on standby at Candelaria hospital in Tenerife. The unit’s chief ICU doctor, Mar Martin, told the BBC the team was fully prepared despite never previously encountering the virus in a clinical setting. García called the entire containment effort unprecedented in scale and complexity.
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