Irish citizens on hantavirus-hit ship being flown home by Air Corps
By Bairbre Holmes, Press Association
A military aircraft is flying home after being sent to collect two Irish passengers who were on a virus-hit cruise ship.
The MV Hondius, which is at the centre of the hantavirus outbreak, docked in Tenerife in the Canary Islands on Sunday morning.
Later in the day an Air Corps aircraft flew to the island from Baldonell Aerodrome, a military air base in west Co Dublin.
Flight tracking websites showed the plane left Tenerife for Ireland at around 5.40pm on Sunday.
The Department of Health said it would carry out “an aeromedical evacuation” of the two Irish citizens, who would be accompanied by Health Service Executive (HSE) medics
They were said to have followed isolation protocols on the ship and are in “good health”.
Once in the country, they will be taken to an HSE facility where they will be monitored while quarantining, a process which follows international guidance.
On Saturday a Department of Health spokesperson said: “If they become symptomatic, they will be assessed and treated as appropriate.”
In a statement the department said: “The return of passengers and crew from MV Hondius has been carefully planned and guided by public health authorities to ensure safety for everyone – these measures protect communities while respecting the dignity and wellbeing of those returning home.”
Spanish authorities said on Sunday that no passengers on the ship were showing symptoms of the virus and the disembarkation process was “proceeding well”.
They began the evacuation of the ship by nationality and ferried passengers to port by small boat.
Passengers were told to leave their luggage on the ship and were only allowed to take a small bag with essential items.
The first group to be evacuated was made up of 14 Spanish nationals who were flown to a hospital in Madrid.
While they were being bussed from the port at Granadilla de Abona to Tenerife South Airport, some passengers, wearing blue PPE, waved and gave thumbs up as they passed watching media.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said its goal was to finish the ship’s evacuation, with the exception of 30 crew members remaining on board, by 7pm on Monday.
Those crew members and a nurse from the Netherlands, as well as the body of a passenger who died on board, will remain on the ship, which will sail to Rotterdam in the Netherlands where it will undergo disinfection, the WHO said.
WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference in Tenerife that the outbreak was “not another Covid and the risk to the public is low”.
The organisation has said that as this is the first documented outbreak of hantavirus aboard a ship, a highly precautionary approach is being taken out of “an abundance of caution”.
They said on Saturday there had been six confirmed hantavirus cases linked to MV Hondius and four patients were in hospital.
It added that eight cases, including three deaths, had been reported – with one previous suspected case being reclassified after testing negative for hantavirus.
