TENERIFE: A first group of passengers, all Spanish nationals, has begun to disembark into a small boat from the cruise ship which was hit by a hantavirus outbreak and is headed to Tenerife’s Port of Granadilla, Spain’s health ministry said.
The passengers will be transported directly from the port in military buses to the airport and evacuated by a Spanish government plane to Madrid where they will taken to hospital and quarantined, officials have said
The passengers, none of whom has displayed signs of infection, will be tested by Spanish health authorities to ensure they remain asymptomatic and then transported to land in small boats, according to Spanish officials.
Sealed-off buses will then take the passengers to the Spanish island's main airport about 10 minutes away, where they will board planes heading to their respective countries.
All passengers on the luxury cruise ship MV Hondius are considered high-risk contacts as a precautionary measure, Europe's public health agency said late on Saturday as part of its rapid scientific advice.
The evacuation is expected to begin between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. (0630-0700 GMT), according to Spanish authorities.
Spanish nationals are set to disembark first with other nationalities to follow in groups, government officials said on Saturday. Thirty crew members will remain on board and sail to the Netherlands where the ship will be disinfected.
The ship left for Spain on Wednesday from the coast of Cape Verde after the World Health Organization and European Union asked the country to manage the evacuation of passengers after the hantavirus outbreak was detected.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus arrived on Saturday evening in Tenerife in the Canary Islands, alongside Spain's interior and health ministers and its minister for territorial policy, to coordinate the arrival of the ship.
The WHO said on Friday that eight people had fallen ill, including three who died - a Dutch couple and a German national. Six of these people are confirmed to have contracted the virus, with another two suspected cases, the WHO has said.
Hantavirus is usually spread by rodents but can in rare cases be transmitted person-to-person. The WHO has said the risk to the wider global population is low, but the risk to passengers and crew on the ship is moderate.
All passengers on the cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak are considered high-risk contacts as a precautionary measure, Europe’s public health agency said.
Passengers without symptoms will be repatriated for self-quarantine via specially arranged transport, not regular commercial flights, by their respective countries, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control said on Saturday as part of its rapid scientific advice.
Although at disembarkation, passengers will be considered high-risk, not all will necessarily be considered high-risk upon return to their home countries, the ECDC said.
The agency urged symptomatic passengers to be prioritized for medical assessment and testing on arrival, adding they may isolate in Tenerife or be medically evacuated home, depending on their condition.
Usually the virus is spread by rodents but can in rare cases be transmitted person to person. Health authorities have said the risk of the virus spreading is low.
