Passengers of the cruise ship MV Hondius, which was affected by a hantavirus outbreak, board a Spanish plane at Tenerife Sud airport in the Canary Islands of Spain, Sunday. Reuters-Yonhap
TENERIFE, Canary Islands — The first plane carrying passengers evacuated from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship departed from Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands on Sunday for Madrid, where they will go to a military hospital.
Spanish nationals were the first to leave the MV Hondius, which remains anchored off Tenerife after arriving hours earlier, and they will be under quarantine after they reach Madrid, Spanish health authorities say. Only Spanish nationals will quarantine in the country.
The cruise operator Oceanwide Expeditions listed 13 Spanish passengers and one Spanish crew member on board.
Nobody among the more than 140 people on the Hondius is showing symptoms of the virus, Spain’s health ministry, the World Health Organization and cruise company Oceanwide Expeditions said.
Passengers and some crew members of other nationalities will be evacuated throughout Sunday into Monday. There were people of more than 20 different nationalities on board.
Those disembarking and personnel working at the port of Granadilla in Tenerife were wearing protective gear during the evacuation process, including face masks, hazmat suits and respirators.
The cruise ship reached Tenerife early Sunday morning, after leaving Cape Verde on May 6.
Three people have died since the outbreak, and five passengers who left the ship are infected with hantavirus, which can cause life-threatening illness.
Everyone disembarking will be checked for symptoms, and are being taken off the ship only once evacuation flights are ready to fly them to their destinations.
Source: Korea Times News
