23 minutes agoAleks PhillipsReutersSpanish police prepare the port of Grenadilla for the arrival of the MV HondiusThe head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has sought to reassure residents of Tenerife that their risk of infection is low ahead of the arrival of a cruise ship on which an outbreak of hantavirus occurred.
Just nowSarah RainsfordSouthern and Eastern Europe correspondent, Granadilla, Tenerife ReutersPassengers were dressed in hazmat suits and hosed down before boarding a plane in Tenerife after being evacuated from the shipSpain is evacuating passengers from a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship anchored near Tenerife in the Canary Islands.Health Minister Mónica García said the operation was "proceeding normally" and that all passengers on board the MS Hondius were still asymptomatic.With a long camera lens, passengers could be seen wandering around on the deck of the ship, or at the windows, all in white medical face masks, as the first evacuation took place.Several sat socially distanced on the first evacuation boat, filming and taking photos as they approached land, where they were met by officials in white protective suits.The ship's passengers are being divided into groups by nationality to be ferried to shore. They are being taken by bus to the local airport, where charter planes will repatriate them to their home countries.Footage of passengers on the airport tarmac showed staff involved in the operation pulling white hazmat suits over passengers' clothes, then hosing them down next to the stairs of the plane before boarding.Fourteen Spanish nationals will be the first to disembark, then those flown out by the Netherlands, including Dutch, Greek and German passengers, and part of the crew.Other flights are poised to depart after that, including to the UK and US. The last evacuation flight is expected to leave for Australia on Monday.ReutersThe first passengers to be evacuated from the cruise ship are Spanish nationalsReutersThey were pictured boarding buses to Tenerife's airport after reaching landThe Hondius pulled into the port of Granadilla before dawn on Sunday, a month after the first passenger died on board.The sun rose to reveal it anchored offshore, with military police boats on patrol and a major operation unfolding on land to help more than 100 passengers and crew disembark.At about 07:00 (06:00 GMT), medical teams went on board to check everyone for signs of the virus.There have been meticulous preparations to receive the ship, which won't be permitted to reach shore: a security perimeter of one nautical mile was enforced around it as it approached the island.Dozens of intensive care specialists are on stand-by at the Candelaria hospital in Tenerife in case anyone from the Hondius becomes seriously ill during the transfer. A strict isolation facility has one bed fully equipped to deal with infectious diseases, complete with testing kit and a ventilator."We are absolutely ready," chief intensive care doctor Mar Martin told me on the unit, where large numbers of protective suits, masks and gloves are already piled up for staff."We've never seen [hantavirus] before – but it's a virus, with some complications, just like we manage every day. We are fully trained for that."Chief intensive care doctor Mar Martin with an intensive care bed at the Candelaria hospitalThe complex operation to prevent the rare Andes strain of this virus spreading was described by Spain's health minister as "unprecedented".On Saturday, she stressed that the risk of contagion for the general population was low. "We believe that alarmism, misinformation and confusion are contrary to the basic principles of preserving public health."Spanish nationals leaving the ship are being flown to Madrid, where they face a mandatory quarantine in the Gomez Ulla military hospital. Complete isolation would be gruelling - the virus has an incubation period of up to nine weeks - and it is not clear how long people in Spain or elsewhere will be quarantined.British passengers on cruise ship to isolate on WirralThe head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is in Tenerife to oversee the disembarking, has praised the authorities for their "solid and effective response" to this outbreak.It has been linked to a landfill site in the south
23 minutes agoAleks PhillipsReutersSpanish police prepare the port of Grenadilla for the arrival of the MV HondiusThe head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has sought to reassure residents of Tenerife that their risk of infection is low ahead of the arrival of a cruise ship on which an outbreak of hantavirus occurred.Tedros Ghebreyesus stressed that "this is not another Covid" and that there were no symptomatic passengers currently aboard the MV Hondius.The ship is due to arrive in the port of Granadilla in the early hours of Sunday, sparking concern among locals. Passengers are due to start disembarking at 07:00 GMT, the cruise operator said.Six cases have been confirmed among the ship's passengers, including in one of the three who died while the Dutch vessel was sailing from South America.Spanish officials have sought to allay concerns about the ship's arrival, laying out in detail the containment precautions being taken.Hantaviruses are usually carried by rodents, but human transmission of the Andes strain - which the WHO believes was contracted by some of the ship's passengers while in South America - is possible.Symptoms can include fever, extreme fatigue, muscle aches, stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhoea and shortness of breath."I know you are worried," Dr Tedros told Tenerife residents in a personal message on Sunday."I know that when you hear the word 'outbreak' and watch a ship sail toward your shores, memories surface that none of us have fully put to rest. The pain of 2020 is still real, and I do not dismiss it for a single moment."But I need you to hear me clearly: this is not another Covid. The current public health risk from hantavirus remains low."He added that there was currently a WHO expert, Dr Freddy Banza-Mutoka, aboard the MV Hondius. Along with two Dutch physicians, he is conducting medical and exposure assessments of everyone on the vessel, the WHO said, and is currently reporting that no more passengers are showing symptoms of hantavirus.Dr Tedros arrived in Tenerife to observe the forthcoming operation first-hand.The ship is expected to drop anchor in the Canary Islands sometime between 04:00-06:00 GMT on Sunday, Spanish Health Minister Mónica García said on Saturday.Its passengers will be held on the boat and will only be able to leave on smaller boats when there is a repatriation flight waiting for them on the tarmac, she told a news conference.Cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions later gave an estimated arrival time of 04:30 GMT and said that once disembarked those on board "will be transferred immediately to their allocated aircraft".Flights are planned to take them back to the UK, the US, France, Germany, Belgium and Ireland, officials have said. The EU is sending a further two planes for the remaining European citizens.The MV Hondius's arrival comes against the wishes of the region's president Fernando Clavijo, who questioned why the final phase of the response to the outbreak could not have taken place in Cape Verde, its previous stopping point.Dr Tedros thanked Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, calling the decision to receive the ship "an act of solidarity and moral duty"."Tenerife has been chosen because it has the medical capacity, the infrastructure and the humanity to help them reach safety," he said.Spanish authorities have detailed the precautions being taken to prevent passengers coming in contact with the local population.García said all passengers will wear FFP2 masks when disembarking, as will anyone who comes in contact with them during their transfer, such as bus drivers and logistical personnel.Passengers will be disembarked according to their nationality and Spaniards are expected to be able to leave first, the health minister said."Those disembarking will only be allowed to take with them a small, sealed bag containing essential items such as their documentation, mobile phone, charger, basic necessities and personal belongings."She added that the body of one of the pass
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