The president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, has explained that the cruise ship affected by a hantavirus outbreak will not dock at the port of Granadilla (Tenerife), but will only anchor, so it will not touch Canary coast and its passengers will be transferred by boats for later transport to the airport.
He explained this after the meeting with the Minister of Health, Mónica García, and the Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, to analyze the situation and the procedure to follow with the passengers of the MV Hondius who will arrive in the Canary Islands, for their control and subsequent transfer to Madrid, in the case of the 14 Spaniards, and to their countries of origin, in the case of the rest of the passengers.
From Health they point out that anchoring the ship is an option that was already contemplated due to the technical characteristics of the port, which is not prepared for the disembarkation of people.
"The ship will not dock under any circumstances, it will only anchor, which we believe is very good news because vectors of possible contagion and risk decrease, and therefore the evacuation of those passengers will be by a boat or mother ship that can go to pick them up, transfer them and take them to the airport," Clavijo assured after the meeting held at the Ministry of Health.
"Under no circumstances will the passengers leave the ship until the aircraft is at the airport and it will be done with all guarantees," insisted the Canary president, who pointed out that individual protection equipment will be used "to avoid any type of contagion and transmission."
In addition, the Canary president has requested that the ship "be anchored for the shortest possible time," so if "there is no crew member who needs medical attention, automatically, once all passengers have disembarked and been transferred to their countries, it should continue towards the Netherlands."
Clavijo insisted on his disagreement that the ship had left the coast of Cape Verde heading for the Canary Islands and regretted that they had not been given at the meeting "the report in which Cape Verde denied attention, nor the request from the World Health Organization" for the cruise ship to sail to the port of Granadilla.
"The minister conveyed that it is a decision of the Government of Spain, following a request from the World Health Organization, which was an ethical and moral duty and that, therefore, it assumed that the Government of Spain had made that decision. We do not agree, but it is the responsibility of the Government of Spain and therefore we can do nothing," he added.
In the meeting, which he described as "necessary," Clavijo asked the Government to keep him informed of all the information regarding the health assessment of the passengers throughout the journey, "to be able to see if any passenger shows symptoms or if they are in perfect condition."
For their part, ministers García and Torres have expressed their commitment to ensure that the transfers are carried out with the utmost guarantees for the sick and for the population.
Mónica García highlighted "the need to act with institutional responsibility." "In a public health situation like this, coordination and trust between institutions are part of the health response," asserted the head of Health, who called for responsibility.
Two other technical meetings are scheduled for this Tuesday between the Ministries of Health and the Interior with the Government of the Canary Islands, which are part of the seven coordination meetings that the Government of Spain will hold today with the Government delegations and, at the European level, with the heads of health security and Civil Protection of the EU.
