The Ministry of Health has reported that the medicalized aircraft tasked with transferring the doctor with hantavirus, a member of the crew of the cruise ship "MV Hondius", to the Canary Islands, continues without taking off from Cape Verde, despite the evacuation being scheduled for the early hours of this Wednesday.
The Spanish Executive gave the green light this Tuesday to the formal request from the Netherlands to receive the doctor, who remains in serious condition. Along with him, another crew member who also requires urgent medical attention and a passenger linked to the deceased guest on May 2 also await evacuation. In their case, the destination will be the Netherlands and Germany, respectively, via two specialized aircraft.
Spain agreed, following the request of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Union, for the cruise ship to call at the Canary Islands in order to organize healthcare for passengers and crew under a strict international protocol.
"The specific port has not yet been defined," have stated from the Ministry of Health, which anticipates the arrival of the cruise ship in 3 or 4 days. At the same time, it is emphasized that departure from Cape Verde will not be authorized until a thorough examination of the vessel is completed, allowing it to be determined if there are more people who need to be urgently evacuated.
On the "Hondius" a total of six cases have been detected, of which two have been confirmed by laboratory tests. Three of the affected individuals have passed away, one remains in critical condition in South Africa, and two are the crew members requiring urgent attention; furthermore, an escort of one of the deceased is being kept in quarantine as a suspected case.
Currently, 149 people are traveling on the cruise ship, from 23 different nationalities (including 14 Spaniards: 13 passengers and one crew member). Of the total, 88 are passengers and 61 are part of the crew.