A physician with three decades of experience at the WHO, and former global director of Health Action in Crisis Situations, has described the protocols followed on the MV Hondius as “impeccable,” contrasting with the alarmism expressed by the Canary Islands Government. A Canarian epidemiologist, also a former member of the WHO’s Standing Committee for Europe, fully agreed, stating that the standards of the WHO and ECDC were followed “scrupulously well.”

The Canary Islands Government's criticisms focused on the absence of antigen and PCR tests for passengers before disembarkation. However, the expert deemed this criticism unfounded, explaining that conducting PCR tests on board is not feasible due to the need to send samples to external laboratories, which would have caused a significant delay in evacuation and increased the risk of transmission within the ship.

The Canarian epidemiologist added that, had PCR tests been performed on the vessel, passengers would have had to wait a week for a second confirmatory test, prolonging their stay on board and increasing risk for those not infected. He questioned whether the advice from international bodies like the ECDC and WHO holds no value for the Canarian executive, urging to “settle this controversy and avoid further tensions” given the low risk of hantavirus transmission between people.

The Government Delegation clarified that generalized PCR tests were not conducted on the ship due to a lack of technical capacity and epidemiological reasons. Tests were performed in Cape Verde on high-risk contacts and symptomatic individuals, who were evacuated there. Subsequently, health authorities received regular reports from the vessel, which did not report new symptomatic cases during the voyage. Upon arrival in Spain, passengers underwent health checks and temperature screening. Samples from the 14 identified contacts have already been sent to the National Center for Microbiology, with results expected today, although no Spanish passengers currently show symptoms.