MV Hondius, with more than 140 passengers and crew on board, has arrived at Granadilla Port in Tenerife as local police and international press swarm the port awaiting its arrival
The Hantavirus-stricken crusie ship has officially arrived in Tenerife.
The cruise arrived at the Granadilla port at around 5.40am UK time on Sunday, May 10. Rescue teams, including UK government staff, will immediately begin to evacuate up to 147 people, including 22 Brits, who remain onboard the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship.
The evacuation must be completed within 24 hours of the vessel reaching the popular holiday island in order to face days or even weeks of delays caused by expected bad weather.
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Passengers can take only limited belongings and will be isolated
Garcia said passengers and some crew would disembark in Tenerife “under maximum safety conditions.”
The ship will not dock but will remain at anchor, with people ferried off in small boats. Everyone disembarking will be checked for symptoms and won’t be taken off the ship until a flight is already in Tenerife waiting for them, Garcia said during a news conference in Madrid. There are currently people of more than 20 different nationalities on board.
Authorities are aiming to complete the evacuation flights on Sunday and Monday, the director of the WHO’s Department of Epidemic and Pandemic Management, Maria Van Kerkove, said in a briefing Saturday.
Both the U.S. and the U.K. have agreed to send planes to evacuate their citizens. Americans are to be quarantined at a medical center in Nebraska.
All Spanish passengers will be transferred to a medical facility and quarantined, Garcia said. Oceanwide has listed 13 Spanish passengers and one Spanish crew member on board.
Those disembarking will leave behind their luggage, Garcia said, and will be allowed to take only a small bag with essential items, a cellphone, charger and documentation. Some crew, as well as the body of a passenger who died on board, will remain on the ship, which will sail on to the Netherlands, where it will undergo disinfection, the minister added.
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