WHO Director-General Reassures Tenerife Residents as MV Hondius Cruise Ship Docks
WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus has personally assured Tenerife residents about the minimal risk of hantavirus transmission, ahead of the MV Hondius cruise ship’s arrival. The vessel, which has confirmed six hantavirus cases among its passengers, including three who died, is expected to dock at Granadilla port in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Ghebreyesus directly addressed local anxieties, stating, “this is not another Covid,” and confirmed no symptomatic passengers are currently aboard. He travelled to Tenerife to observe the operation first-hand, while a WHO expert, Dr Freddy Banza-Mutoka, alongside two Dutch physicians, conducts medical assessments on the ship.
Spanish Health Minister Mónica García outlined strict containment protocols, detailing that passengers will remain on board until repatriation flights are ready. Flights are arranged for citizens returning to the UK, US, France, Germany, Belgium, and Ireland, with additional EU planes for other European nationals. Passengers will disembark with essential, sealed bags, wearing FFP2 masks.
The decision to allow the ship to dock in Tenerife, rather than Cape Verde as preferred by regional president Fernando Clavijo, has drawn criticism and protests, including from the far-right Vox party. Ghebreyesus commended Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, framing the decision as an “act of solidarity and moral duty,” citing Tenerife’s medical capacity and infrastructure.
Hantaviruses are typically rodent-borne, but the Andes strain, believed to have been contracted in South America, can be transmitted between humans. Two British men with confirmed cases are receiving treatment in the Netherlands and South Africa, with a third suspected case in Tristan da Cunha.
