Hantavirus ship evacuation nears completion as 94 flown home

RACE AGAINST TIME

A plane arrived in the Netherlands with dozens of people, including Belgian, Greek, German, Guatemalan and Argentine citizens, while flights for Canadian, Turkish, British, Irish and US nationals also left.

Canary Islands authorities have warned that the operation must be completed by Monday, when adverse weather conditions will force the ship to leave.

The Atlantic archipelago’s regional government has consistently resisted taking in the ship, which was only authorised to anchor offshore instead of docking in the port when it arrived early on Sunday morning.

The central government has insisted there will be no contact with the population in Tenerife.

Garcia told reporters on Tenerife shortly before the operation began that all passengers were asymptomatic and underwent a final medical assessment before their disembarkation.

But one of five French people flown back to France was showing hantavirus symptoms, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu wrote on X, saying all those evacuees “have immediately been placed in strict isolation until further notice”.

The World Health Organization recommends a 42-day quarantine and “active follow-up”, including daily checks for symptoms such as fever, the UN body’s epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention director, Maria Van Kerkhove, said in Geneva.

Greece’s health ministry said a Greek male evacuee would spend 45 days in mandatory hospital quarantine in Athens, while 14 Spanish citizens will also isolate at a military hospital in Madrid.

But a top US health official said American passengers will not necessarily be quarantined at a specialised centre in the state of Nebraska.

Depending on the estimated risk, passengers can choose to go home “without exposing other people on the way”, said Jay Bhattacharya, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who was on Tenerife to help supervise the evacuations, said that policy “may have risks”.