Starting at 13:30, the Secretary of State for Health, Javier Padilla, and the Secretary General for Civil Protection and Emergencies, Virginia Barcones, are scheduled to hold a press conference to report on the latest news about the hantavirus outbreak and the ship ‘MV Hondius'.
At this time, health authorities are preparing quarantines, medical checks, and repatriations for the passengers of the cruise ship MV Hondius affected by the hantavirus outbreak, which is sailing towards the Canary Islands. Its future arrival in Tenerife has activated a broad health operation coordinated by the Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO), and various European bodies.
The outbreak has generated international concern over the possible human-to-human transmission of the so-called Andes strain of hantavirus, something unusual according to experts and health organizations. The WHO maintains the epidemiological investigation open to determine the exact origin of the infections and the scope of the outbreak detected on the ship.