WHO chief reassures Tenerife residents ahead of arrival of virus-hit cruise ship

Reuters

The director general 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, in a personal message to people on the Canary Island.

The MV Hondius is due to arrive in the port of Granadilla in the early hours of Sunday morning, sparking concern among locals.

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," Ghebreyesus told Tenerife residents 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.

Ghebreyesus has travelled to Tenerife to observe the forthcoming operation first-hand, the international agency said.

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.

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.

It has led to local protests and attacks against the central government from the far-right party Vox.

Ghebreyesus 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 explained.

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 passengers who died onboard would not be removed while the ship was in the Canary Islands.

The MV Hondius will then continue to the Netherlands, where the body and the person's belongings will be disinfected before being removed.

The first death occurred on 11 April and another on 2 May. A 69-year-old Dutch woman who left the ship in St Helena on 24 April travelled to South Africa, where she died two days later.

Two British men with confirmed cases are receiving treatment in the Netherlands and South Africa, while a third Briton is being treated for a suspected case on the remote Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, where the ship stopped in mid-April.

The exact cause of the outbreak is still unclear, as is whether other passengers or crew may have been infected.

Ghebreyesus has previously said the first two cases had "travelled through Argentina, Chile and Uruguay on a bird-watching trip which included visits to sites where the species of rat known to carry the virus was present".