An American and a French woman removed from the Hondius ship tested positive for hantavirus
Two passengers removed from the Hondius cruise ship test positive for hantavirusthe authorities announced this Monday (11), the day that should mark the end of the removal operation and the refueling of the ship on the Spanish island of Tenerife, before continuing the journey towards the Netherlands.
Two of the ship’s 94 occupants who disembarked on Sunday and were repatriated to their countriesan American and a Frenchtested positive for hantavirus, an uncommon virus that normally spreads among rodents and for which there is no vaccine.
An American passenger “tested slightly positive in the PCR test”, announced the United States Department of Health.
Of the five French people repatriated and placed in isolation in Parisa woman presented a worsening of her health condition and the “tests showed positive results”, announced the Minister of Health, Stéphanie Rist.
After the announcement of the positive cases, the Spanish Ministry of Health stated that it had adopted “all measures” necessary to “cut the possible chains of transmission” of the hantavirus.
Three passengers aboard the Hondius — a Dutch couple and a German woman — died from hantavirus.
Refueling and last departures
Not Sunday, 94 of the Hondius’ approximately 150 passengers and crew were repatriated from the port of Granadilla in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands.
This Monday, the ship is scheduled to be refueled and the last occupants repatriated on two flights, one to Australia and the other to the Netherlands.
“Throughout the morning (…) refueling may begin, which will last between four and five hours. It will then be loaded with supplies,” Virginia Barcones, secretary general of Civil Protection, explained to public television TVE.
The objective is that “when we carry out the last two disembarks (…) we can authorize the departure of this ship to the Netherlands” at around 7 pm (3 pm Brasília time), added Barcones.
“I hope we can finish even before the scheduled time,” said the Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, on RNE radio, who praised Spain’s repatriation device.
Repatriations take place by plane from Tenerife South airport and by nationality, 23 in totalwith strict security measures to minimize contact between Hondius occupants and other people.
On Sunday, flights departed for Madrid – to transport the Spaniards who began quarantine in a military hospital -, France, the Netherlands – which took an Argentine passenger and a Guatemalan crew member, the two Latin Americans on the ship -, Canada, Ireland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.
7pm local time (3pm Brasília time) is the established cut-off time for the Hondius to leave the port of Granadilla de Abona bound for the Netherlandscarrying around 30 crew members.
Repatriated Argentine Carlo Ferello minimized the seriousness of the situation on board. The environment was “not worrying, actually”, he told the TN channel, highlighting that, after the first infections, “no more cases appeared”.
“I was alone (…), I didn’t have much contact. Life went on quite normally”, added this retired engineer, who will be quarantined in the Netherlands.
Low risk
The director of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, present in Tenerife, highlighted the cooperation between the countries and reiterated that “the current risk to public health remains low.”
According to health authorities, passengers remain mostly asymptomatic, although they were classified as “high-risk contacts” and must undergo quarantine upon arrival at their destination.
With the exception of Americans, who will not necessarily be placed in quarantine, a decision that involves risks, assessed the director general of the WHO.
“This is not covid”, justified Jay Bhattacharya, acting director of the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), asking the population to remain calm.
The Hondius, which had departed on April 1 from Ushuaia, Argentina, remains anchored without docking, at the request of the regional authorities of the Canary Islands, who expressed their rejection of the operation for health security reasons.
However, the president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, defended the operation, highlighting that Spain “will respond with exemplary and effectiveness” in a crisis that once again places the country under international attention.
