CANARY Islands officials have threatened to block a disease-carrying cruise ship from docking in Tenerife despite orders from Spain’s central government, citing safety fears.
Regional President Fernando Clavijo told reporters he would not authorise the MV Hondius – currently held in quarantine off the Cape Verde capital of Praia – to head for the Spanish islands, amid concerns that a hantavirus outbreak could pose a risk to the local population.
Clavijo said he learned of the decision to allow the ship to dock in Tenerife through media reports and has called for an urgent meeting with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Health Minister Monica Garcia.
“There’s no information suggesting the ship needs to sail for three days to the Canary Islands to complete a task that could be done from Praia,” Clavijo said.
“Unless we receive all the necessary information to ensure the safety of the Canary Islands’ population, [our] government will not allow any ship to dock,” he added. “We’re absolutely clear on that.”
It comes after three passengers died amid a hantavirus outbreak aboard the Hondius, prompting the vessel to be detained off Cape Verde on Sunday while en route to its final destination in the Canary Islands.
Five more people have fallen ill on the vessel, with three cases confirmed as hantavirus following a World Health Organisation (WHO) investigation.
The ship’s 147 passengers, including two sick crew members, have been kept on board in quarantine, with Cape Verdean authorities refusing to let them disembark over fears the virus could spread.
However, three seriously ill passengers were airlifted off the ship on Wednesday to receive treatment in the Netherlands, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
Concern is also growing over whether the virus, which is usually spread through contact with rodent droppings, urine or saliva, may be passing between people.
The WHO said on Tuesday it was tracing 80 people who may have been exposed after flying with an infected passenger, a 69-year-old Dutch woman who later died in a South African hospital.
Another infected ship passenger has been identified in Switzerland after reporting to local health authorities, the WHO said.
It is still unclear how or when that passenger left the Hondius.
The man is now receiving treatment in a Zurich hospital, officials confirmed.
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