Countries prepare to evacuate ship passengers

Germany and the US are among the countries sending aircraft to evacuate their citizens from the MV Hondius cruise ship.

The ship anchored at a port in Tenerife.

The virus-hit MV Hondius arrived off the Spanish port of Granadilla, Tenerife
The vessel did not dock and is anchored in the harbor
None of the remaining passengers or crew have shown symptoms of infection, though all will be tested.

The US, the UK, and several European countries are dispatched aircraft to evacuate their citizens
The head of the World Health Organization said the risk posed by the hantavirus outbreak “remains low.”
Stay with us for the latest news on the MV Hondius hantavirus outbreak:
Health officials start medical checks on Hondius passengers
Medical teams are now checking passengers for signs of infection as they disembark MV Hondius.

The passengers are to be transported to land in small boats, divided into groups of five.

Spanish nationals will be the first to disembark.

Authorities previously said none of the nearly 150 passengers and crew aboard the ship currently showed symptoms of a Hantavirus infection.

However, the incubation period for the virus can last for up to eight weeks.

Evacuation teams deployed to Tenerife port
Spain's law enforcement agency Guardia Civil has sent teams to Tenerife the Port of Granadilla where the cruise ship MV Hondius is now anchored.

Nearly 150 people are onboard.

International passengers will only be allowed to leave when their planes are ready at the nearby airport.

All Spanish passengers are to be quarantined in a medical facility in Madrid.

The authorities hope to complete the evacuation process by tomorrow, with the last flight set to depart for Australia.

Hondius set to sail to the Netherlands after evacuation
After all passengers and some crew evacuate the luxury cruise ship Hondius, the vessel is expected to sail to the Netherlands for disinfection.

It will also transport the body of a German woman, one of three passengers believed to have died from the hantavirus outbreak, to a Dutch port.

The first victim, a Dutch man, was taken off the ship at the remote Atlantic island of St.

Helena.

His wife later died in a South African hospital after disembarking.

According to a manifest provided by the ship's operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, six Germans remain aboard the ship.

They are to be evacuated and flown back to Germany.

A cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak has arrived at the Spanish island of Tenerife.

Spanish authorities say medical teams will first screen everyone on board for acute symptoms.

If none are found, passengers will disembark in groups of five, wearing FFP2 masks and carrying only light hand luggage.

The World Health Organization says returns are planned for Sunday and Monday, with passengers expected to enter quarantine after arrival.

Cruise ship hit by hantavirus outbreak reaches Tenerife
The vessel Hondius, which was hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak, arrived near the Port of Granadilla on Spain's island of Tenerife on Sunday morning.

The virus killed three people aboard the luxury vessel.

What are the evacuation plans for Hantavirus-stricken ship passengers?

Spanish authorities are gearing up for the arrival of the MV Hondius, with nearly 150 people on board.

Here's what we know about the evacuation plans:
The Dutch-flagged MV Hodius is expected to anchor offshore
Those aboard will be screened and brought ashore in small boats
They will be taken to the airport by bus once the planes from their countries are ready for take-off
Germany, France, Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands have confirmed they will send planes to evacuate their citizens aboard MV Hodius
The European Union is sending two more planes for the remaining European citizens
The US and UK said planes and contingency plans were being arranged for non-EU citizens
Local authorities say the evacuation must take place between Sunday and Monday, before weather conditions at sea change
After the evacuation operation, MV Hondius is set to continue onward to the Netherlands, where it is to be disinfected in accordance with international protocols
What to know about Hantavirus cases if you're joining us on Sunday
The ship, which began its journey on April 1 in Argentina, is carrying nearly 150 people from more than 20 countries.

Sanchez: Spain has 'moral and legal' duty to allow Hondius to dock
It is Spain's "duty" to offer a safe port to a cruise ship hit with a deadly hantavirus outbreak for the evacuation of its passengers, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said.

The Hondius is due to arrive off the coast of Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, early on Sunday morning.

Permitting the operation at the request of the World Health Organization (WHO) "is a moral and legal duty for our citizens, Europe and international law," Sanchez said on X after meeting with WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Madrid.

"I can confirm that return flights to France, Germany, Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands have already been planned," Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska told a news conference.

Grande-Marlaska said two planes from the EU Civil Protection Mechanism are on standby, adding that the UK and US had made their own repatriation arrangements for their citizens.

The Hondius is due to arrive off southern Tenerife, in Spain's Canary Islands, early on Sunday morning.

Spanish officials have insisted that all those aboard will be checked for symptoms and will be taken directly onto the runway before boarding planes.

Spanish nationals will be flown to Madrid by military plane, where they will be quarantined at a hospital.

MV Hondius heads to Canaries amid hantavirus tracing efforts
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
IN PICTURES: Spain prepares for arrival of hantavirus-stricken cruise ship
WHO chief Tedros speaks to MV Hondius captain after arrival in Spain
The secretary-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said he had spoken to the captain of the MV Hondius after arriving in Spain on Saturday.

"I am in direct communication with captain Jan Dobrogowski and [WHO] colleague on board Dr Freddy Banza-Mutoka," Tedros said in a post on X, adding that he had been briefed that there were no new recorded cases of hantavirus on the ship.

Tedros said that he would "join senior government officials in a mission to Tenerife to oversee safe disembarkation of the passengers, crew members and health experts from MV Hondius cruise ship."
The WHO chief stressed that the "risk for the population of Canary Islands and globally remains low."
The Dutch-flagged vessel is scheduled to arrive in Tenerife in the Canary Islands early on Sunday, according to Spanish authorities.

Risk to general public remains low — Spanish minister
Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia said at a Saturday press conference that the risk to the general public from a hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship on its way to Spanish territory remains low.

The Dutch-flagged vessel is to arrive in the Canary Islands between 4 and 6 a.m.

local time (between 0300 and 0500 UTC) on Sunday, and passengers and crew will be taken to a “completely isolated, cordoned-off area,” she said.

The minister added the body of one deceased person will stay on board the ship alongside part of the crew and the vessel will then continue onward to the Netherlands , where it is to be disinfected in accordance with international protocols.

Garcia said that the evacuations will be timed in coordination with flights to the passengers' country of origin.

At the same press conference, Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said that a contingency plan was being prepared with the Netherlands for citizens of non-EU countries who do not have available evacuation flights.

He said that authorities had confirmed evacuation flights to Germany, France, Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands.

Spain PM Sanchez to meet WHO chief ahead of evacuations
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is to meet with WHO Secretary-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Saturday, Sanchez's office said.

The meeting is scheduled to take place at 5 p.m.

local time (1500 UTC).

Tedros was set to visit Tenerife in the Canary Islands ahead of the arrival of a Dutch-flagged ship facing a hantavirus outbreak from which over 140 passengers are to be evacuated.

WHO chief to assist in Tenerife evacuations — Spanish authorities
World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is to visit Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands to assist in evacuation efforts from a cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak, Spanish authorities said.

The WHO secretary-general is set to assist authorities in ensuring "coordination between administrations, health control" and in applying " planned surveillance and response protocols," Spanish ministry sources were cited by the AFP news agency as saying.

The Dutch-flagged MV Hondius is to arrive in Tenerife on Sunday.

The WHO has said that the risk to the general public from the outbreak is low, as the hantavirus is not highly contagious in human-to-human transmission.

There have been six confirmed cases of hantavirus linked to the ship, which is carrying over 140 passengers.

What to know about Hantavirus cases if you're joining us on Saturday
Spanish authorities are preparing to receive more than 140 passengers and crew onboard a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship headed for the Canary Islands, where health officials say they will perform careful evacuations.

The vessel is expected to arrive Sunday at the Spanish island of Tenerife, off the coast of West Africa.

Both the US and the UK have agreed to send planes to evacuate their citizens from the cruise ship.

Various health bodies around the world have been making sure that people are aware of the processes going into tracing and tracking people linked to the cruise ship.

There have been six confirmed cases of hantavirus linked to the ship, and all six have been confirmed as Andes virus, a type of hantavirus.

Spain said health officials were monitoring a person who was isolating after reporting symptoms.

A Dutch flight attendant tested negative after she was suspected of infection.

Three people have died since the vessel departed Argentina last month, while others have been evacuated from the ship for medical treatment.

But it's important to note that not all deaths have been confirmed as cases of hantavirus infection.

Four patients remain hospitalized ​in South Africa, the Netherlands and Switzerland, while a suspected case sent to Germany tested negative.