MADRID/GRANADILLA (dpa-AFX) – On the first day of the evacuation operation on Tenerife, 94 passengers and crew members from the cruise ship “Hondius” affected by a hantavirus outbreak were flown out. The people from a total of 19 countries left the Canary Islands in eight special planes, Spanish Health Minister Mónica García told journalists late in the evening at the port of Granadilla in the south of Tenerife.
A US plane carrying 18 affected people was the last to take off from Tenerife Sur airport. Machines from Spain, France, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands and Turkey had previously taken off as part of the evacuation operation. On Monday afternoon, another plane from the Netherlands and a plane from Australia will be used and 18 and six other affected people will be flown out.
There are also four Germans among those flown out. They were first taken to Eindhoven by Dutch plane and from there were to be transported on to Frankfurt in a special insulated transport. Then we go to the respective federal states for quarantine. The responsible health authorities decide on the measures.
34 people remain on board
All evacuees had previously been disembarked gradually from the “Hondius”, which was anchored in the port of Granadilla, under strict security precautions. They were brought ashore in small groups by boat and then taken by bus to Tenerife Sur airport.
Before disembarkation began, doctors carried out an epidemiological investigation on board. None of the 152 people on board had any symptoms. According to García, 34 people, mostly members of the crew, should stay on board and travel back to the Netherlands with the “Hondius”. The minister said the campaign had gone smoothly so far. “We can be proud, we have done a phenomenal job.” One of the five French passengers who were flown out then showed symptoms on the return flight from Tenerife to Paris. As French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced, all five passengers were immediately placed under strict quarantine until further notice.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are six confirmed cases of hantavirus and two suspected cases. Three of these eight people died: an elderly couple from the Netherlands and a woman from Germany. The WHO suspects that the chain of infection started from the Dutch couple, who may have been infected in Argentina before embarkation./er/DP/zb
