Spanish officials have clashed with their own regional authorities over a plan to receive the virus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius.
Meanwhile, a man who traveled on the Hondius has received treatment for the deadly hantavirus in Zurich, Switzerland.
According toThe New York Times, Mónica García, the Spanish health minister, said during a Wednesday news conference that in the coming days the Hondius would dock at a port in Tenerife, one of Spain’s Canary Islands.
However, Fernando Clavijo, president of the Canary Islands, objected to the plan.
“There is no information that justifies why the vessel must sail for three days to the Canary Islands,” Clavijo said in a radio interview.
The Hondius departed Wednesday from its anchorage off the West African nation of Cape Verde.
For her part, García did not wish to engage in a public debate with the Canary Islands president.
“We are not going to get into the political controversy, I believe it’s not the time,” she said in response to Clavijo’s objection.
On April 11, a 70-year-old man from the Netherlands died aboard the Hondius. Fifteen days later, on April 26, the man’s 69-year-old wife also died while trying to fly home to the Netherlands from Johannesburg, South Africa. On May 2, a German passenger died, bringing the total number of fatalities to three.
Authorities confirmed hantavirus in the case of the 69-year-old woman. The government of Argentina has also begun to investigate the theory that the outbreak began with the now-deceased Dutch couple, who traveled through southern Argentina and Chile.
Source: VidNews » Feed
