NIH Director Says Hantavirus ‘Is Not COVID’ As U.S. Passengers Prepare For Return (Latest Updates)
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- The passengers were “transferred immediately” to aircraft taking them to their home countries, Oceanwide Expeditions said.
- Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the WHO, is on the ground overseeing the operation along with members of the Spanish Health Ministry, and posted a video of a bus taking passengers to charter aircraft.
Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.Topline Jay Battacharya, the director of the National Institutes of Health, said Sunday on CNN the hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship in the Atlantic was “not COVID,” suggesting he does not believe it poses pandemic-level risk and his agency doesn’t “want to cause a public panic”, as the U.S. prepares for the return of 18 passengers from the ship.
This aerial picture shows a general view of the cruise ship MV Hondius stationary off the port of Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, on May 4, 2026.AFP via Getty ImagesTimelineSunday, May 10, 2026The passengers and a “limited number” of crew members onboard the MV Hondius began disembarking at the port of Granadilla, Spain, on Sunday morning, cruise ship operators said, beginning at 6:24 a.m. local time.
The passengers were “transferred immediately” to aircraft taking them to their home countries, Oceanwide Expeditions said.