The Minister of Health, Mónica García, confirmed this week that the 14 Spaniards who remain on board the MV Hondius They will undergo medical tests upon arrival in the Canary Islands before being transferred to Madrid. As explained, all remain asymptomatic and none have shown opposition to maintaining a voluntary quarantine to reduce the risk of spreading the outbreak.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization raised the cases linked to the outbreak to eight and confirmed that the variant detected corresponds to the Andes strain, the only hantavirus with documented transmission between people. He last positive identified is a Swiss citizen who left the cruise before the outbreak became known and is currently receiving treatment in Zurich.
The Public Health Commission also approved a specific protocol for Spanish passengers, which provides for quarantines at the Gómez Ulla Hospital for those who have remained on the ship since April 1 or have had close contact with confirmed cases. During this period there will be PCR testsdaily checks and continuous medical surveillance, with passengers remaining in individual rooms and without visitors. If anyone develops symptoms compatible with diseasewill be transferred to a specialized isolation unit.
The Secretary of State for Health, Javier Padilla, also detailed the operation planned for the arrival of the boat to Tenerife this Sunday. As he explained, a team from the Ministry will travel to the island and the passengers will disembark on boats before being distributed for repatriation. The Spanish citizens will later be transferred on a military plane to Madrid, while Spain coordinates with 22 countries the return of the rest of the passengersmore than a hundred.
Padilla also reported a suspected case of hantavirus in Alicante. This is a woman who coincided on a flight with the deceased passenger in Johannesburg after abandoning the cruise. In addition, the authorities are trying to locate another person who traveled on that same plane, stayed for a week in Barcelona and later returned to South Africa. At this time it is unknown if he has developed symptoms.
The arrival of the MV Hondius continues to generate concern in Tenerife. Port workers from Santa Cruz and Granadilla have warned of possible protests due to the lack of information about the health device. In parallel, the shipping company Oceanwide raised to 30 the number of passengers who previously disembarked on the island of Saint Helena, coming from at least 12 different nationalities, including the first death of the outbreak, whose cause of death was not yet known at that time.