"This is not another Covid" - WHO chief sends message to Tenerife as hantavirus-stricken liner approaches
Kyiv • UNN
Three people have died due to a hantavirus outbreak. The head of the WHO will arrive in Tenerife to oversee the safe evacuation of passengers from the vessel MV Hondius.
The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on Saturday issued a direct appeal to the residents of Tenerife, where the cruise ship MV Hondius, which suffered a hantavirus outbreak, is scheduled to dock early Sunday morning, UNN reports.
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"It is unusual for me to write directly to the residents of a single community, but today I believe it is not only appropriate but necessary. I want to speak to you directly, not through press releases or technical briefings, but as one person to another, because you deserve it," Ghebreyesus stated in the address.
I know you are concerned. I know that when you hear the word "outbreak" and see a ship sailing toward your shores, memories surface that none of us have fully forgotten. The pain of 2020 is still real, and I do not deny it for a second. But I need you to hear me: this is not another Covid. The current health risk from hantavirus remains low. My colleagues and I have spoken about this unequivocally, and I repeat it to you once again now
He noted that "the virus on board the MV Hondius is the Andes strain of hantavirus." "This is serious. Three people have died, and our hearts go out to their families. The risk to you, living your daily lives in Tenerife, is low. This is the WHO's assessment, and we do not take it lightly," Ghebreyesus indicated.
"There are currently no symptomatic passengers on board. A WHO expert is on the vessel. Medical supplies are available. Spanish authorities have prepared a carefully considered, phased plan: passengers will be brought ashore at the industrial port of Granadilla, far from residential areas, in sealed, guarded vehicles through a fully fenced corridor, and repatriated directly to their home countries. You will not encounter them. Your families will not encounter them," he pointed out.
Ghebreyesus also stated that he intends to travel to Tenerife to "personally oversee this operation, support the healthcare workers, port officials, and civil servants carrying it out, and personally express my respect for an island that has responded to a difficult situation with dignity, solidarity, and compassion."
"As I have said many times: viruses do not care about politics, and they do not respect borders. The best immunity we all have is solidarity. Today, Tenerife is demonstrating that solidarity," noted the WHO chief. "Please take care of yourselves and each other. Trust in the preparations that have been made. And know that the WHO stands with you and every person on that ship every step of the way."
Countries prepare to evacuate passengers from hantavirus-stricken liner
As Reuters notes, countries are ready to evacuate their citizens from the luxury cruise ship struck by a deadly strain of hantavirus, which is set to anchor near Tenerife early Sunday morning.
The vessel is expected to anchor off the island between 03:00 and 05:00 GMT.
The WHO on Saturday briefed member states whose citizens are on board on how to manage the process, recommending active surveillance of passengers for 42 days from the date of last contact with the virus.
According to the WHO, a total of six people have been confirmed infected with the virus since the outbreak, with another two suspected cases.
Local authorities stated that the evacuation is expected to take place between noon Sunday local time (11:00 GMT) and approximately the same time on Monday, before sea conditions are expected to become stormier for the remainder of the month.
Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, and the Netherlands will send planes to evacuate their citizens on board the cruise ship heading to Tenerife, Spain's Interior Minister stated in Madrid on Saturday.
Fernando Grande-Marlaska added that the European Union is sending two more planes for the remaining European citizens. The US and the UK have confirmed aircraft, and contingency plans are being developed for non-EU citizens whose countries have been unable to organize air transport, he said.
British passengers and staff from the cruise ship will be taken to a hospital in North West England for an initial period of isolation following repatriation, UK health authorities said on Saturday.
Americans will be sent to Nebraska for quarantine and testing, according to a social media post by travel blogger Jake Rosmarin, who is on board the liner.
All passengers, as well as 17 crew members, will be evacuated, but 30 crew members will remain on board and head to the Netherlands, said Spanish Health Minister Mónica García. Luggage and the body of the deceased passenger on the ship will remain on board, and the ship will be fully disinfected upon arrival, she added.
Spanish citizens will be the first to disembark, and the order of evacuation for the remaining groups of citizens will be determined by health authorities. Citizens will not be able to go ashore until their evacuation flight is ready for departure, Grande-Marlaska said.
As El Pais notes, a judge in Spain has authorized mandatory quarantine for Spaniards on the vessel affected by the hantavirus outbreak at the government's request.