Latest news on the hantavirus outbreak, live | The Minister of Health: “The funding has been a success despite all the adversities”

HANTAVIRUS

Photo gallery | The cruise ‘MV Hondius’ arrives in Tenerife after the hantavirus outbreak

Passengers, all asymptomatic, will be evacuated by boats and transferred to the Canary airport after undergoing a medical evaluation.

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The EU sends an air ambulance from Norway to Tenerife to support disembarkation

The European Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, Hadja Lahbib, reported this Sunday that an air ambulance from Norway has been sent to the Spanish island of Tenerife, where the cruise Hondius has already docked and where passenger disembarkation will soon begin following a hantavirus outbreak.

“Following Spain’s request under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, a rescEU air ambulance is being sent from Norway to Tenerife to address the situation caused by the hantavirus on board the MV Hondius,” the commissioner said via a social media message.

Lahbib added that an EU official is on the ground “to facilitate on-site coordination” from the Spanish port of Granadilla de Abona, on the Canary Island of Tenerife.

She also assured that they continue “receiving evacuation flight offers from EU Member States, while the EU’s additional capacity remains on standby.” “We continue to coordinate closely with Member States, participating States, and partners to support evacuations and provide further assistance if needed,” she concluded. (Efe)

García avoids controversy with Fernando Clavijo

The Minister of Health, Mónica García, glossed over the controversy sparked on Saturday night with the President of the Canary Islands. “The Government of Spain, of course, has authorized the disembarkation of the citizens on the ship, among whom I want to remind you there are 14 Spanish citizens,” she stated. “We have told them, of course, that they are absolutely welcome and the operation continues, nothing will distract us from continuing to work so that this operation is successful despite all the difficulties we have encountered.”

Last night, the President of the Government of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, announced to the media his intention not to authorize the ship’s anchoring.

Shortly after these statements, in a Resolution signed at 1:12 a.m., the Director General of the Merchant Marine invoked Article 299 of the Revised Text of the State Ports and Merchant Marine Law to impose the reception of the ship.

Spanish passengers, the first to disembark

The Minister of Health, Mónica García, detailed that the first nationals to be evacuated will be the Spaniards.

Then it will be the turn of the Netherlands, which will also take care of citizens from Germany, Belgium, Greece, and part of the crew. Subsequently, the different flights scheduled for today will follow, with no incidents reported: Canada, Turkey, France, Great Britain, Ireland, and the United States. The Netherlands will send a “broom plane” tomorrow, as García called it, to pick up the group that has not been repatriated by their respective countries. The last flight will take place tomorrow and will transport Australian citizens in the afternoon.

García: “The anchoring has been a success despite all adversities”

“The anchoring has been a success despite all adversities,” began the Minister of Health, Mónica García. The minister detailed that at 7:30, the external health miners went to the ship. “What they tell us is that all passengers remain asymptomatic.”

The Ministers of Interior, Health, and Territorial Policy explain the disembarkation operation of the ‘MV Hondius’

The Ministers of Interior, Health, and Territorial Policy hold a press conference from the port of Granadilla to explain the disembarkation operation of the MV Hondius.

External Health approaches the cruise to assess the health of passengers

External Health specialists, equipped with protective gear, have approached the cruise to conduct the epidemiological survey and evaluation of passengers and crew on the ship itself. Once it is confirmed that they show no hantavirus symptoms, they will disembark in groups by zodiac boats, depending on the readiness of the planes that will repatriate them. Another group of health workers waits below to take them to the Military Emergency Unit (UME) buses to transfer them to the airport, about ten minutes away. Only 17 Filipino crew members will remain on board to sail the ship to the Netherlands, under whose flag the MV Hondius sails. They will be accompanied by the body of a German passenger who died from the infection during the Antarctic expedition.

The Ministers of Health and Interior and the WHO Director-General attend the disembarkation

The Ministers of Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, and Health, Mónica García, and the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) have attended the Advanced Command Post to witness the start of the passenger disembarkation operation of the MV Hondius.

External Health teams about to enter the interior of the cruise ship

The Secretary of State for Health, Javier Padilla, confirmed that the cruise MV Hondius has already anchored off the port of Granadilla (Tenerife) and that in the next few minutes the External Health team will approach and enter the ship. Once the health experts give the green light, the disembarkation process will begin. The first to leave the vessel will be the Spanish passengers. “So far everything is going as it should,” Padilla said in statements to RTVE.

The ‘MV Hondius’ anchors in the dock of the port of Granadilla

The ship MV Hondius has come to a stop at the back of the dock of the port of Granadilla. All eyes on the dock are on the cruise ship, around which the pilots navigate. Murmurs in English, Japanese, Portuguese, and French from thousands of reporters cornered against the concrete corner in yellow vests fill the quiet dawn. They are only illuminated by white light spotlights and rusty poles. The only other sound is the planes crossing on their way to Tenerife South Airport, from where the passengers and crew of the ship will be repatriated.

UME buses arrive at the port

Two medium-sized red buses from the Military Emergency Unit (UME) have arrived at the port, which will transfer the passengers and crew of the cruise HV Hondius to Tenerife South Airport. Disembarkation is expected to begin at 8:00 local time, with the Spaniards being the first to disembark, who will be met by a Defense plane to take them to Gómez-Ulla Hospital in Madrid. Two health personnel dressed in white suits and safety equipment are already in that sector of the port of Granadilla.

The Minister of Health, Mónica García, insisted late Saturday in a press conference from this very place that “none of those coming are patients, nor cases, they are people who will quarantine and follow strict public health protocols.”

The maneuvers of the ‘MV Hondius’ continue

The anchoring operation of the MV Hondius is close to reaching its first hour. In the last few minutes, after several stops, the Antarctic ship, which has suffered a hantavirus outbreak affecting eight passengers, has moved a few meters further into the dock and is turning on its axis.

Day is beginning to break and a helicopter circles the pink sky over the port of Granadilla. The ship is also guarded by two Civil Guard patrol boats and a couple of drones. According to plans, disembarkation of passengers will not begin until an hour from now, starting with the Spaniards.

It is likely that part of the operation will extend until Monday due to the available planes. This has been one of the reasons cited by the President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, to oppose the operation late at night.

Hantavirus

The most controversial port in the Canary Islands presents itself to the world for the disembarkation of the hantavirus cruise

The characteristics that make the use of the Port of Granadilla so appropriate for anchoring the cruise ‘MV Hondius’ are the same ones that have kept it at the center of controversy in the Canary Islands for years. Isolated in an industrial park, with no passenger traffic and less than 15 minutes by car from Tenerife South International Airport, it has minor activity, purely industrial and linked to hydrocarbon transport, with no recreational or passenger vessels. Its infrastructures have been at the center of controversy for decades: they have been accused of wastefulness (it cost more than 200 million euros), environmental damage — at the beginning of the decade, its construction sparked one of the largest citizen protests in Tenerife’s history — and a serious problem of underutilization.

Hantavirus

New health crisis, new lessons to learn

The epidemic outbreak, not an epidemic nor a pandemic, of hantavirus on a vacation cruise has already been told and described in detail, although not always truthfully. This is what Harari tells us in Nexus, “having information does not mean having the truth.” What has been confirmed, once again, is the attitude of certain political leaders in our country who maintain positions based on untruthful information. But beyond debating these unfounded positions, the important thing is to observe what happens to draw some lessons for future health crises.

You can read the full opinion piece here

An operation with 350 personnel

Around the cruise MV Hondius, visible from the dock anchored at the end of the dock, in the dark night, the lights of the Security Forces and Corps drones twinkle as they fly over the water beside it. 325 Civil Guards and 33 police officers are ready to participate in the evacuation operation of the passengers and crew of the ship, which has suffered a hantavirus outbreak. Among them is Adolfo, part of the Pegaso team (Specialist Police in Aeronautical Management and Operational Security) of the Civil Guard, who has traveled to Tenerife from Madrid with part of his team to ensure that no drone flies within a radius of less than three kilometers from the port of Granadilla. The so-called “air police” will inhibit the entire perimeter as part of security measures. A green tent of the Civil Guard, which will lead the operation, is installed at the port, and few of its personnel are waiting, with no activity at the moment.

The ‘MV Hondius’, already near the center of the dock

After three days of journey and almost 25 minutes of maneuvers, the Antarctic ship MV Hondius, which has suffered a hantavirus outbreak affecting eight passengers (three of whom have died), is already approaching the center of the dock of the Port of Granadilla, from where passenger disembarkation will take place between today and tomorrow.

It is still dark in this part of southeastern Tenerife, and operations are proceeding very slowly.

Once the ship is anchored, they will wait for daylight to begin passenger disembarkation maneuvers.

The operation has continued despite the institutional clash early this morning, when the central government had to impose on the Canary Islands the reception of the ship, after the last-minute refusal of the Canarian president, Fernando Clavijo, to authorize the anchoring.

Read more Feijóo breaks into the day of mourning for the two civil guards attacking the Government

HANTAVIRUS

Dead on board: the loose ends of the hantavirus cruise crisis management

Three weeks passed between the first death on the MV Hondius and the moment it was known that there was a hantavirus outbreak on board. During that time, 30 passengers disembarked on Santa Elena Island. Once they set foot on that isolated place in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, they were lost track of. And until less than a week ago, international mechanisms — and in Spain’s case, also national ones — were not activated to trace cases, disembark occupants, and activate health protocols to treat the sick and prevent the spread of the virus. Beyond the fact that most experts trust this will not become a public health problem, many questions arise: Has coordination worked? Is the regulatory framework sufficient to face situations like this? Has the shipping company acted diligently? Have we learned anything in governance and communication six years after the biggest pandemic in a century?

You can read the full information here

The ‘MV Hondius’ heads into the entrance of the port of Granadilla

The Antarctic cruise MV Hondius is already heading into the entrance of the port of Granadilla. The ship arrived near the dock shortly after 5:30 a.m. (local time, 6:30 a.m. in mainland Spain), although it waited a few minutes before beginning maneuvers. Shortly before 6:00 a.m., the ship began the maneuver and is currently at the entrance of the dock. A drone supervises the operations.

At the dock, the anticipation is high, and about a hundred journalists of various nationalities closely follow the maneuvers.

The ‘MV Hondius’ enters the port of Granadilla (Tenerife)

The cruise MV Hondius, affected by a hantavirus outbreak, is already inside the facilities of the port of Granadilla (Tenerife). From there, the operation to disembark passengers and transfer them to Tenerife South Airport to travel to their countries will be carried out. The Spaniards, the first to disembark, will be transferred to Gómez Ulla Hospital in Madrid to undergo quarantine.

Do long-tailed mice swim?

In the early hours of this Sunday, a new crisis opened between the President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, and the Government of Pedro Sánchez regarding the anchoring of the cruise MV Hondius. Clavijo stated that he would not authorize the anchoring due to the risk it posed. One of the concerns spreading among the Canarian population is that the rodent (or rodents) carrying the hantavirus was on board the ship and could reach the island of Tenerife. For this reason, the ship is anchored and not docked.

Health has sent a document with information about the long-tailed mouse (Oligoryzomys longicaudatus), the reservoir animal of this Andes hantavirus. It states that “it is not a rodent capable of swimming from the place where the ship is located to the coast,” although it does not cite any study. Additionally, the document affirms that the vessel has a maritime health declaration guaranteeing the proper sanitary conditions of the ship, which include “the absence of any type of rodent” in “adequate facilities that prevent the appearance of possible niches that favor the accumulation of rodents and create spaces accessible to rodents.”

The ‘MV Hondius’, in front of the port of Granadilla (Tenerife)

The cruise MV Hondius, affected by a hantavirus outbreak, is at the entrance of the port of Granadilla (Tenerife), less than a mile from the port facilities. From there, the operation to disembark passengers and transfer them to Tenerife South Airport to travel to their countries will be carried out. The Spaniards, the first to disembark, will be transferred to Gómez Ulla Hospital in Madrid to undergo quarantine.

Health criticizes Clavijo’s rejection of the ‘Hondius’ anchoring: “He sabotages a worldwide important operation”

The Secretary of State for Health, Javier Padilla, reproached the President of the Canary Islands Government, Fernando Clavijo, for his last-minute refusal to allow the anchoring in Tenerife of the cruise MV Hondius, affected by a hantavirus outbreak, and accused him of “doing politics to sabotage a worldwide important operation.”

“That idea he had of an infected mouse jumping from a ship to swim 200 meters and climb the dock to colonize Tenerife is not a risk,” Padilla explained live on La Sexta Xplica, before insisting that maritime health workers endorse that the people on board the MV Hondius “are asymptomatic” and that “there are no rodents on the boat, which is new.” He also recalled that “every year there are 500 cruises to Argentina and Chile and there has never been an outbreak in Europe.”

Thus, Padilla insisted that the health risk of the MV Hondius is “remote” and defended the operation deployed around the ship’s anchoring in Tenerife, emphasizing that the response times follow the protocols established within the framework of the European civil protection mechanism, in an operation involving 23 countries and being carried out “in record time.” (EP)

The security device will be made up of 325 Civil Guards and 33 police officers

The Minister of Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, stated that the security device that will assist in evacuation tasks tomorrow will be composed of 358 personnel: 325 Civil Guards and 33 police officers, who “will carry out security work in collaboration with the Health infrastructure, which directs this operation.”

Marlaska stated that all planes will arrive in Tenerife between today and tomorrow to transfer passengers back to their countries.

Hantavirus

The Government imposes on the Canary Islands the reception of the cruise ‘MV Hondius’ after Clavijo’s refusal to authorize the anchoring

Clash of administrations just hours before the arrival of the Atlantic cruise MV Hondius. Minutes after the Ministers of Health, Interior, Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory – Mónica García, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, and Ángel Víctor Torres – celebrated the imminent operations for the disembarkation of the passengers of the Antarctic cruise hit by a hantavirus outbreak, the President of the Government of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, announced at the same dock before the media his intention not to authorize the ship’s anchoring.

You can read the full information here

The Government imposes on the Canary Islands the reception of the cruise ‘MV Hondius’ after Clavijo’s refusal to authorize the anchoring

Clash of administrations just hours before the arrival of the Atlantic cruise MV Hondius. Minutes after the Ministers of Health, Interior, Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory – Mónica García, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, and Ángel Víctor Torres – celebrated in the Port of Granadilla the unlocking of operations for the disembarkation of the passengers of the Antarctic cruise hit by a hantavirus outbreak, the President of the Government of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, announced at the same dock before the media his intention not to authorize the ship’s anchoring.

The Canarian president denounced that the meeting was held without the preparatory meeting they had agreed upon and lamented that the central government had made its decisions “unilaterally” and without sharing the reports and protocols that the regional government has been requesting for days.

Immediately after (at 1:12 a.m. mainland time), Ana Núñez Velasco, Director General of the Merchant Marine, signed an administrative resolution that de facto cancels the Canarian veto and imposes the reception of the ship. The resolution invokes Article 299 of the Revised Text of the State Ports and Merchant Marine Law to impose the reception of the ship, either by anchoring or docking, depending on what the health authorities responsible for the operation decide.

Canary Islands conditions the anchoring of the cruise on the guarantee that all its passengers leave the island on Sunday

The President of the Government of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, announced this Saturday night at the Port of Granadilla that he will not authorize the anchoring of the MV Hondius, the ship affected by the outbreak, unless the Government of Spain guarantees that all passengers can be evacuated on Sunday. The decision comes hours before the ship, flying the Dutch flag, reaches Canarian waters.

Clavijo appeared alongside the President of the Tenerife Island Council and the Mayor of Granadilla after a meeting with Ministers Fernando García, Fernando Marlaska, and Ángel Víctor Torres, who had publicly celebrated the diversion of the ship to the Tenerife port just hours earlier. The Canarian president denounced that the meeting was held without the preparatory meeting they had agreed upon and lamented that the central government had made its decisions “unilaterally” and without sharing the reports and protocols that the regional government has been requesting for days.

The Government of Spain plans to disembark passengers on Sunday throughout the day to transfer them to their respective countries, but at least two flights — the Netherlands and Australia — are delayed, which would force the ship to remain anchored until Monday. Clavijo proposed a solution he considers “common sense”: redistribute the pending passengers — around 40 people — on the planes already arranged, which together fly at less than 10% capacity. The Government of Spain’s plane, with a capacity for 210 passengers, carries 14; the Netherlands’ plane, 26. The three ministers rejected the proposal citing World Health Organization criteria, although they did not provide supporting documentation.

“They cannot explain to us why on a 210-passenger plane 14 can go and 34 cannot,” Clavijo said, who also ruled out, as an alternative, that the ship continue sailing to the Netherlands since, according to the central government itself, none of the passengers show symptoms. “If they are healthy, let them stay on the ship until their destination. If there is no health emergency, there is no reason to anchor here,” he argued.

The Canarian president instructed the President of the Tenerife Port Authority not to issue the anchoring resolution — an essential procedure for the ship to dock — unless there is a guarantee that the operation concludes in a single day. “If the Government of Spain wants to impose it, let it impose it and assume the responsibilities,” he warned, referring to the possibility that the State use its own powers to force the ship’s entry.

Clavijo expressed being “extremely disappointed” with the ministers’ attitude and referred to the imminent visit of the Pope to the islands, arriving in the coming weeks, as an additional precaution. He also recalled that hantavirus, although less contagious than COVID-19, has a mortality rate of around 50%, and that the only controls carried out on board so far are temperature checks and symptom observation.

Hantavirus

How the disembarkation of those affected by hantavirus from the cruise in the Canary Islands will be

The Port of Granadilla, in Tenerife, has prepared in recent days to evacuate the passengers of the MV Hondius, where a hantavirus outbreak has occurred. In this video, we explain how the disembarkation will take place and what safety measures have been adopted to minimize the risk.

You can watch the video here.

The cruise will arrive in Tenerife at 5:30, according to the company

The company responsible for the cruise ‘MV Hondius’, Oceanwide, has just published a statement announcing that they will arrive at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife at 5:30 local Canary time and that passenger disembarkation will begin around 8 in the morning. During the ministers’ press conference with the WHO leader, these times were not detailed, but government sources indicate it will arrive around 6 in the morning.

Good morning. Here begins the live narration of the latest news about the hantavirus outbreak on board the MV Hondius. The cruise is expected to anchor in the waters of Tenerife around 5:30 a.m. local time, one hour later in mainland Spain. The Minister of Health, Mónica García; the Minister of Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlasca; and the Director of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, traveled to the island yesterday to coordinate the evacuation of passengers and repatriation to their respective countries. The 14 Spaniards will be transferred to Gómez Ulla Hospital in Madrid on a military plane.

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