Spain has finally given the green light, at the request of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Union, for the cruise ship MV Hondius, where a hantavirus outbreak has been detected, to make a stopover in Canary Islands in order to organize healthcare assistance for passengers and crew following a strict international protocol.
The WHO and the Ministry of Health had met this afternoon to resolve the fate of this ship, anchored off Cabo Verde, with 147 people on board. The decision was made late this Tuesday, after a team of epidemiologists evaluated the sanitary situation of the ship, where seven cases have been registered, three of them fatal.
According to the plan agreed between the health authorities, the two patients with the most severe symptoms will be transferred to the Netherlands and a third passenger, considered a high-risk contact, will be evacuated to Germany. After these operations, the rest of the ship's occupants will continue the journey towards the Spanish islands within an estimated period of three or four days.
Clavijo maintained that the ship should not call at the Canary Islands
The shipping company Oceanwide Expeditions announced this afternoon that its intention was for the ship to head to the Canary Islands, either Gran Canaria or Tenerife, once the evacuations were finished.
However, the position of the Spanish authorities has been more prudent. The president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, insisted that the "reasonable" thing was for the ship not to call at the archipelago if it was not strictly necessary from a health point of view, arguing that patients should be treated where they are or transferred directly to their country of origin.
Along the same lines, the Ministry of Health indicated that the scale in the Canary Islands was not closed, but it would only be justified if new cases arose during the crossing or if it were essential for clinical reasons.