Spain agrees to receive hantavirus-hit cruise ship in Canary Islands following WHO request
Key takeaways
- The ship is expected to reach the Canary archipelago in three or four days, possibly at either Gran Canaria or Tenerife, according to Dutch operator Oceanwide Expeditions, with the exact port still to be determined.
- WHO Director of Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention Maria Van Kerkhove said the risk to the wider public remains low and confirmed the absence of rodents on board.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
The Spanish government on Tuesday night authorised the docking in the Canary Islands of the polar cruise ship MV Hondius, on which a hantavirus outbreak has already left three people dead, after Cape Verdean authorities denied it entry to their ports and following a formal request from the World Health Organization (WHO) that invoked Spain's moral and legal obligation to assist the 147 passengers and crew on board, including 14 Spanish citizens.
The Health Ministry, led by M nica Garc a, justified the decision by pointing to the Canary Islands as the nearest location with the necessary capabilities to handle the situation, according to an official statement released after 10:00 p.m. local time. The acceptance came after hours of resistance, during which the Canary Islands' regional president, Fernando Clavijo, had said from Brussels that the ship should be attended where it is, arguing that medical assistance should be provided in Cape Verde itself before the vessel returned to the Netherlands, the ship's flag state. The ship is expected to reach the Canary archipelago in three or four days, possibly at either Gran Canaria or Tenerife, according to Dutch operator Oceanwide Expeditions, with the exact port still to be determined.
The reception protocol will be developed by the WHO and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), and provides for prior aerial evacuations from Cape Verde of three patients requiring urgent medical attention: the ship's doctor — in serious condition — will be flown to the Canary Islands in a hospital aircraft, while two other passengers will travel to the Netherlands and Germany. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus sent a letter of thanks to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S nchez, in which he emphasised that rapid disembarkation is a humanitarian imperative and warned against unnecessary restrictions without public health justification.