GENEVA: The head of the World Health Organization said on Wednesday that a deadly hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship does not resemble the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Asked whether the situation was similar to the global emergency at the beginning of Covid-19, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “No, I don’t think so,” according to AFP.
Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia Gomez said the affected cruise ship, the MV Hondius, would dock “within three days” at Granadilla on the island of Tenerife.
“A joint system for health assessment and evacuation will be put in place to repatriate all passengers, unless their medical condition prevents it,” García told a news conference in Madrid.
She added that 14 Spanish nationals on board, including one crew member, would be transferred to Madrid’s Gomez Ulla Military Hospital.
The government was monitoring the situation “minute by minute” to prevent any spread of the virus.
However, Canary Islands regional president Fernando Clavijo opposed evacuating patients to the archipelago, citing a “total lack of information” from central authorities.
García said she remained in “constant contact” with Clavijo and that he would participate in all coordination meetings.
International alert
Tedros said three suspected cases, including a doctor, had already been evacuated from the vessel and were being transported to the Netherlands for treatment.
Two air ambulances departed from Cape Verde on Wednesday to retrieve the patients, AFP reported.
Flight tracking data showed one aircraft heading to the Netherlands, with landing expected later in the day.
The ship has been at the centre of an international alert since Saturday, when the WHO was informed that three passengers had died and hantavirus was the suspected cause.
The Dutch-flagged vessel departed from Ushuaia in Argentina on April 1 for a voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.
It has been anchored off Cape Verde since Sunday.
According to the WHO, the ship was carrying 88 passengers and 59 crew members of 23 nationalities.
