After the disembarkation of all passengers and part of the crew, the ship continues its journey to the Netherlands
He MV Hondius cruise shipaffected by a hantavirus outbreak, has maintained international attention for days. With all the passengers and a good part of the crew already disembarked, the ship continues its journey to the Netherlands, where it will be disinfected and the body of the German woman who died on board on May 2 will be transferred.
Yesterday afternoon the operation ended with the arrival in Granadilla (Tenerife) of two “broom” planes from the Netherlands that were responsible for picking up the disembarked passengers and crew members who had not yet been evacuated. At a press conference, just as the cruise was setting sail, Mónica García, Minister of Health, stated that the Government of Spain “has fulfilled the mission with efficiency, commitment, transparency and humanity.”
In Madrid, at the Gómez Ulla Central Defense Hospital, the fourteen spanish of the ship continue to comply with their quarantine, which will last 42 days. Yesterday it was learned that one of them had given provisional positive in the first PCR, for which he was transferred to a High Level Isolation and Treatment Unit (UATAN). France confirmed the infection of a woman who began to present symptoms during the flight.
Italy analyzes samples from a young man in quarantine for possible hantavirus infection
The Italian authorities have sent biological samples from a young man from Calabria to the Lazzaro Spallanzani National Institute in Rome after presenting some symptoms compatible with the hantavirus. The affected person was on the same KLM flight from Johannesburg on which a Dutch citizen traveled who later died from the disease, after having been on board the MV Hondius cruise ship.
In total, four Italians remain under active surveillance for having coincided “for a few minutes” with the deceased on that journey. The Italian Ministry of Health has activated a “maximum precaution” protocol with 42-day quarantines and daily monitoring for risk contacts, although it has insisted that the danger to the general population is “very low”.
The Canarian tourism sector rules out cancellations after the hantavirus outbreak and assures that it operates with “maximum normality”
The president of the Canarian Association of Travel Agencies and Tour Operators (ACAVyT), Ignacio Poladurahas stated that tourism in the Canary Islands works with “maximum normality” after the hantavirus crisis on the MV Hondius cruise ship and that no trend of cancellation of reservations has been detected. In his opinion, the security of the archipelago has been “reinforced” with this operation, which he considers “practically completed.”
Díaz Ayuso accuses the Government of staging a “performance” with the hantavirus to boost the profile of Mónica García
The president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, has criticized that the Government has turned the management of the hantavirus outbreak into what she called a “performance to promote the minister”in reference to Mónica García. In an interview in FourAyuso has assured that the objective is to enhance the profile of the head of Health in the face of the WHO and “against the socialist candidate who is falling apart day by day.”
The Madrid leader has also charged against the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez: “That things turn out well, Sánchez ends up showing his face; that things go wrong, like the Paiporta greyhound, I’m leaving and let others eat the brown.” Furthermore, Ayuso has denounced that the Executive uses “the entire media apparatus and the public media of a regime to decide what is the topic of the day.”
He Radboudumc University Hospital of Nijmegen (Netherlands) has placed 12 employees in “preventive quarantine” after detecting failures in the security protocol with one of the hantavirus-positive passengers of the MV Hondius. As confirmed by the institution in a statement yesterday at 9:00 p.m., this is the infected patient who was admitted on May 7.
The Government does not rule out that there are new cases of hantavirus and opens the door to completing the quarantine at home
The Minister of Health, Monica Garciahas announced that the Spaniards repatriated from the cruise ship and who remain in quarantine at the Gómez Ulla Central Defense Hospital in Madrid could end their isolation at home, depending on their evolution. “The WHO suggests that quarantine It can be hospital or it can be home; We will make these decisions based on the epidemiological evolution,” the minister explained after the Council of Ministers.
Furthermore, García has announced that in a week a new PCR will be carried out on the repatriated and has announced “very rigorous and strict monitoring” during the first weeks. The owner has not ruled out that new cases may appear in the next few hours or days, given that “the incubation period is a long enough period for one to be vigilant.”
Torres demands that the president of the Canary Islands apologize for his accusations about the hantavirus
The Minister of Territorial Policy, Angel Victor Torreshas demanded the president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, to apologize and abandon “conspiracy theories” about the hantavirus outbreak on the cruise ship. Thus, Torres has denied having hidden “absolutely anything” and recalled that the American citizen identified by Clavijo gave an “inconclusive positive” result in a first test and negative in the following ones. “Those who were positive get off the ship, but this one was negative, and therefore, he continues his journey,” he argued.
The minister, who also serves as general secretary of the Canarian PSOE, has stated that Clavijo attacks him in Parliament because “he is against the ropes” and “cornered”and asked him to recognize that “he was wrong” and to apologize for making “very serious errors.” Furthermore, Torres has stressed that there were up to eight daily meetings with the regional government so that the evacuation “was a success”, although he has acknowledged that collaboration has been “complicated” in the face of accusations “without any evidence.”
García accuses Clavijo of seeking “political gain” with the hantavirus case on the ship ‘MV Hondius’
The Minister of Health, Monica Garciahas rejected the accusations of the president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijowho has claimed that the central government had “deliberately concealed” positive cases of hantavirus on board the MV Hondius. During a press conference after the Council of Ministers, García described the statements of the Canarian leader as “misinformation”.
“Whoever makes political accusations either did not want this operation to go well or wants to obtain political gain,” said García, insisting that the Executive has acted “with all diligence and transparency” since the beginning of the crisis.
On video: Clavijo accuses the Government of hiding that there were infected people on the cruise ship
García assures that the American’s first negative test occurred before arriving in Granadilla
The Minister of Health, in response to the statements made this morning by the Canary Islands president, has assured that the first negative result of the American citizen, which initially had an inconclusive result, was already known. before arriving at the port of Granadilla. Today the confirmation of this negative was known.
“Whoever denies this information either did not want this operation to go well or wants to obtain political gain,” he said.
García: “Each one portrays himself with his actions and his statements”
Asked about the fact that PCR tests were not carried out on board the cruise ship, as requested by the Government of the Canary Islands, the Minister of Health indicated in the press conference after the Council of Ministers that Spain has followed the WHO protocol “strictly”.
García has pointed out that the PCRs to confirm hantavirus cases are not the same as those for COVID-19. “In Spain it is only done at the National Center for Microbiology.”
“Each one portrays himself with his actions and his statements,” he indicated to the media.
