World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the public health risk to people in Tenerife remains low as Spain prepares to receive passengers from the MV Hondius following three deaths linked to an Andes strain hantavirus outbreak.
Tedros said no symptomatic passengers are currently on board. A WHO expert is on the ship, and medical supplies are in place, he said.
Passengers will be ferried ashore at the industrial port of Granadilla, away from residential areas, according to Tedros. They will then be moved in sealed, guarded vehicles through a cordoned-off corridor before being repatriated directly to their home countries.
“You will not encounter them. Your families will not encounter them,” Tedros wrote in a direct message to the people of Tenerife.
Tedros said the virus aboard the MV Hondius is serious but stressed that “this is not another COVID-19.” He said WHO’s assessment is that the current public health risk from hantavirus remains low.
Tedros also said he personally thanked Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez for Spain’s decision to receive the ship, calling it an act of solidarity and moral duty.
Nearly 150 people from 23 countries have been at sea for weeks, according to Tedros. He said Tenerife was selected because it has the medical capacity and infrastructure needed under International Health Regulations.
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