Four days after the start of the hantavirus crisis, which resulted in the Government’s decision to send the infected cruise ship to the Canary Islands – at the request of the WHO, but without the approval of the Canary Islands Executive and after Cape Verde denied entry into port for reasons of national public security –, yesterday the Minister of Health, Mónica García, and the Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, summoned the president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Health to explain the protocols that will be followed with the passengers of the “Hondius” who will disembark in the Canary Islands for their control and subsequent transfer to Madrid, in the case of the 14 Spaniards, and to their countries of origin, in the case of the rest of the passenger.
The anger of the Canarian president was evident, since from the first moment he assured that “he could not allow the ship to enter the Canary Islands” and desperately demanded “loyalty, information and collaboration” from the Government of Pedro Sánchez, whom he accuses of having made the decision “motu proprio”, without previously analyzing the situation or the risks together with the regional Executive.
Early in the morning, the spokesperson for the Canarian Coalition in the Congress of Deputies, Cristina Valido, warned that there are “many questions” about the cruise ship affected by hantavirus and demanded that the Government respond, transparency and institutional loyalty “given the seriousness” of the situation, reported Ep.
What’s more, Valido emphasized that, 48 hours after learning that the Dutch cruise ship “MV Hondius” would dock in the Canary Islands, the regional government still did not have information on the technical and legal criteria that supported that decision. “The information we have is still insufficient to address a health crisis of this level,” denounced the deputy, who stressed that the decision was communicated to the Canary Islands “as done” and through a WhatsApp message.
In his opinion, the only way to stop the alarm and confusion is to offer clear answers, such as explaining why the evacuation could not take place from Cape Verde, where the cruise ship was anchored. «This is what generates the alarm, not that the Canarian Government says that it has not had the technical and scientific information that supports this transfer. If in a situation of this severity, President Sánchez does not have time to attend to the President of the Government of the Canary Islands, everything has been said,” the deputy insisted.
After the meeting of the ministers Mónica García and Ángel Víctor Torres with Fernando Clavijo, he assured journalists that the Minister of Health explained to him that the cruise ship affected by the hantavirus outbreak will not finally dock in the archipelago, but will “only anchor”, and that the evacuation of the passengers will be carried out by a boat or a mother ship. All this despite the fact that García did not stop using the word “dock” throughout the morning. So much so that her number two, the Secretary of State for Health, Javier Padilla, had to correct her, who pointed out that the minister was referring to the generic concept of arriving in the area and not the specific fact of docking.
“We believe that it is very good news because the vectors of possible contagion and risk are reduced and, therefore, the evacuation of these passengers will be carried out with a boat or a mother ship that can pick them up, transfer them and take them to the airport,” Clavijo said.
The Canary Islands president also asked the central government for the cruise ship to remain “as short as possible” off the coast of the archipelago and, once the disembarkation of all passengers has been completed, to head to the Netherlands as soon as possible.
“In no case will passengers leave the ship until the aircraft is prepared at the airport and everything will be done with the maximum guarantees to avoid any type of contagion and transmission,” insisted the Canarian president in statements reported by Efe.
Clavijo also reiterated his disagreement with the fact that the ship had left the coast of Cape Verde in the direction of the Canary Islands and regretted that during the meeting he was not provided with “the report in which Cape Verde rejected the attention, nor the request from the World Health Organization” for the cruise ship to sail to the port of Granadilla.
«The minister has conveyed that it is a decision of the Government of Spain, at the request of the WHO, which responded to an ethical and moral duty and that, therefore, the Government of Spain assumed that decision. We are not satisfied, but it is the responsibility of the Government of Spain and, therefore, we cannot do anything,” he added.
At the meeting, which Clavijo described as “necessary”, he also asked the Government to provide him with all the information about the health evolution of the passengers during the journey, “to be able to check if any passenger presents symptoms or if everyone remains in perfect condition.” For their part, Ministers García and Torres expressed their commitment that the transfers be carried out with the maximum guarantees for both the sick and the population.