Hantavirus latest: Cruise ship arrives in Tenerife as UK sends plane to evacuate passengers

Britons on a cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak are set to be repatriated from Tenerife to isolate at the hospital used as the UK’s initial Covid quarantine, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said.

The British passengers will be transferred to an isolation facility at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral, Merseyside, after being repatriated to the UK on a chartered flight.

The cruise ship, carrying 22 British passengers and crew, is expected to reach Tenerife at any time now.

The UKHSA said on Saturday evening that the risk to the general public “remains very low”.

Officials from the UKHSA and Foreign Office will greet the MV Hondius when it docks in Tenerife, with Britons on board tested for hantavirus before they disembark.

The evacuation of passengers and crew on board the cruise ship is expected to begin between 7.30 and 8.30am (6.30-7.00 GMT), according to Spanish authorities.

Spanish nationals are set to disembark first, with other nationalities ‌to follow in groups, government officials said ‌on Saturday.

Thirty crew members will remain on board and sail to the Netherlands, where the ship will be disinfected.

Passengers will be ferried ⁠ashore at the industrial port of Granadilla, far from residential areas, in sealed, guarded vehicles, wrote World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in a letter to the public published on X.

He said the passengers will be transferred through a completely cordoned-off corridor, and repatriated directly to their ​home countries. “You will not encounter them,” he added.

The cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak has arrived near the Port of Granadilla in Tenerife, where it will anchor for the evacuation of the passengers and some of the crew.

The passengers, none of ⁠whom have displayed signs of infection, will be tested by Spanish health authorities to ensure they remain asymptomatic and then transported to land in small boats, according to Spanish officials.

The Dutch-flagged MV Hondius, with more than 140 passengers and crew on board, is expected to arrive at port on the island of Tenerife imminently.

After the ship has been anchored, the passengers will be repatriated via flights chartered by their countries.

Those disembarking will leave behind their luggage, Spanish authorities said, adding they will be allowed to take only a small bag with essential items, a cellphone, charger and documentation.

Some crew, as well as the body of a passenger who died on board, will remain on the ship, which will sail on to the Netherlands, where it will undergo disinfection.