The head of the World Health Organization arrived in Spain on Saturday to personally oversee the arrival of a cruise ship MV Hondius, directly addressing worried residents of the Spanish island ofTenerifewith a clear message: do not panic.
"This is not another COVID," WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement addressed to Tenerife residents. "The current public health risk from hantavirus remains low. My colleagues and I have said this unequivocally, and I will say it again to you now."
Tedros said he was in direct contact with the ship's captain and a WHO colleague on board, both of whom confirmed that no additional passengers or crew were showing symptoms of hantavirus at this stage.
Tedros acknowledged those fears head-on, drawing a direct line to the trauma of the COVID pandemic.
"I know you are worried. I know that when you hear the word 'outbreak' and watch a ship sail toward your shores, memories surface that none of us have fully put to rest," he said. "The pain of 2020 is still real, and I do not dismiss it for a single moment."
The ship will not dock at the port. Instead it will remain anchored offshore. Every person leaving the vessel will be checked for symptoms before they are allowed off. Crucially, no one will be taken off the ship until a flight is already waiting at Tenerife's airport to fly them off the island directly. Passengers represent more than 20 different nationalities.
WHO and Spanish authorities aim to complete all evacuation flights by Sunday and Monday, according to Maria Van Kerkove, director of WHO's Department of Epidemic and Pandemic Management.
Hantavirus is typically spread through the inhalation of contaminated rodent droppings and does not pass easily between people. However, the specific strain detected on the MV Hondius, known as the Andes virus, may in rare cases be capable of person-to-person transmission. Symptoms can appear anywhere between one and eight weeks after exposure.
WHO, Spanish health authorities and cruise company Oceanwide Expeditions all confirmed Saturday that nobody currently aboard the ship is displaying symptoms.
Source: India Latest News, Breaking News Today, Top News Headlines | Times Now
