The evacuation of passengers from the MV Hondius concluded this Monday, bringing to an end an unprecedented operation coordinated from Tenerife. The cruise ship docked at the island after a hantavirus outbreak was detected, which has resulted in three fatalities. The operation involved 23 countries and concluded with the last flight departing for the Netherlands, from where some travelers will continue to other nations, including Australia.

The first to leave the ship were the 14 Spanish passengers, who were transferred on Sunday by military aircraft to the Gómez Ulla Hospital in Madrid. All remain asymptomatic and are undergoing a 42-day quarantine, established from May 6, considered “day zero” by health authorities after a joint analysis by the Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), and the Spanish Centre for Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies.

It has been revealed that one of the American passengers aboard the MV Hondius tested positive for hantavirus in Cape Verde, before the Spanish Government authorized the cruise ship's arrival in the Canary Islands. Information about this infection was not made public until this Monday, when the United States Government reported that the citizen had been evacuated separately. Spanish health authorities acknowledged that, although Washington considered the case suspicious after an initial test showed a “weak positive,” they deemed it “inconclusive.” Additionally, one of the Spanish individuals admitted to Gómez Ulla in Madrid tested positive in a PCR test this Monday.

The Minister of Health, Mónica García, expressed her satisfaction with the outcome of the disembarkation operation for passengers and crew of the MV Hondius. As the ship departed from the port of Granadilla, the minister stated that “all security measures” had been taken and highlighted that the Government had “fulfilled the objective with efficiency, commitment, transparency, and humanity,” calling it a “success” and “a source of national pride.”

The shipping company Oceanwide Expeditions has confirmed that the MV Hondius is now sailing towards Rotterdam after successfully completing the disembarkation in Tenerife. 27 people remain on board: 25 crew members and two experts sent by the Netherlands health institute. The company specified that the cruise ship will arrive at the Dutch port on Sunday, one day later than initially planned. The body of a German passenger who died during the voyage due to hantavirus also remains on the vessel.

Argentine health authorities have ruled out that Ushuaia, a city in Tierra del Fuego from which the cruise ship departed, is the origin of the hantavirus outbreak. The director of Epidemiology and Environmental Health for that province, Juan Petrina, stated that there are no elements linking Tierra del Fuego to the fatal cases detected on the vessel.

The Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, thanked the Canary Islands society for its response during the MV Hondius crisis, emphasizing the “commitment, understanding, and example of solidarity and kindness” shown by citizens. Torres revealed that up to eight daily meetings were held to coordinate the operation among involved administrations and organizations. Meanwhile, the Minister of Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, highlighted the work of the European Civil Protection Mechanism and the value of multilateralism in emergency situations.

The Secretary of State for Health, Javier Padilla, confirmed that the MV Hondius passenger with a “provisional positive” hantavirus test will be transferred to a High-Level Isolation Unit (UATAN), although he requested waiting for definitive results. Padilla acknowledged that, if the positive is confirmed, the “day zero” used to calculate the quarantine for the 14 Spanish passengers could be modified, which would extend the isolation period until June 17.

In the Netherlands, twelve healthcare workers from a Nijmegen hospital have been placed in preventive quarantine after protocol errors occurred during the care of a hantavirus-positive patient evacuated from the cruise ship. Although the risk of contagion is low, a six-week quarantine will be applied to the involved workers.

The president of the Cabildo de Tenerife criticized the management of the Spanish Government, accusing it of acting “from imposition” and without offering sufficient guarantees for the island's population. She stated that the management was “full of arrogance, with many shadows, and typical of autocracies.”