Passengers begin disembarking hantavirus-linked ship
發佈日期: 2026-05-11 20:44
TVB News
Passengers evacuating from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship begin flying home Sunday after the vessel anchored in the Canary Islands.
One disembarked passenger tests positive while another is developing symptoms.
The World Health Organization is asking passengers to quarantine for 42 days when they return home.
For the first time in more than a week, passengers of luxury cruiser MV Hondius disembark as the ship docks at Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands.
Identified cases of hantaviurs that killed three and infected five others left the cruise in limbo off the coast of Cape Verde as Spanish authorities and the World Health Organization determine the course of action for disembarking passengers.
Authorities have finished the first day of evacuations, a coordinated international effort which saw more than half of the 147 passengers and crew heading home, says Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia.
"We have finished the first day of the evacuation of the Hondius. The operation has gone well and according to the plan, we have disembarked 94 people of 19 nationalities, 7 flights with 8 nationalities and one with 11 nationalities, the flight of Netherlands. One of the French citizens has had mild symptoms during the flight and the French authorities will proceed to implement the control and protocol," says Garcia.
While WHO's Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus reiterates the risk of an outbreak is low, workers at the port of Granadilla were in full protective gear as they assisted the evacuation.
Authorities say all passenger will be checked for symptoms and are forbidden to have any contact with local population.
"Our advice is clear, starting from May 10, 42 days with active follow-up, 42 days of quarantine. But it could be in a facility or at home. Of course, countries, we advise them, but at the end of the day we don't impose. Countries follow their national guidelines and based on the risk assessment, they can implement, but our guidance is very clear and it has already been released," the WHO chief says.
Buses were seen carrying evacuees to a hospital in Birkenhead, England. The UK Health Security Agency says 22 British nationals will be held in quarantine at the hospital for a minimum of 72 hours, after which they will be asked to self-isolate at home for a further 72 days.
On Saturday, a team of six paratroopers and two medical clinicians from the British Royal Air Force parachuted onto the remote South Atlantic territory of Tristan da Cunha to bring medication and equipment to a resident who was a passenger on the MV Hondius and disembarked a month ago.
One medic says an airdrop was the only timely way to get to Britian's most remote inhabited overseas territory, which takes six days to reach by boat from Cape Town.
