Clavijo rejects Spanish government plan: Will not allow ship with outbreak to dock near Canary Islands

The President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, has rejected the Spanish government's plan to allow the Hondius ship, which has been hit by a hantavirus outbreak, to dock in the archipelago.

An outbreak of hantavirus, which is transmitted through rodent feces, broke out on the Hondius cruise ship that set sail from Argentina on April 1. Three passengers on the ship have died, and several infected passengers have been evacuated from the ship.

"I cannot allow (the ship) to enter the Canary Islands," Clavijo told local radio.

He said that the decision to bring the ship there was not based on any technical criteria, nor was sufficient information given to local authorities.

The evacuation of three people, two crew members and one other person from the Hondius cruise ship, which is currently anchored off Cape Verde, is underway, the World Health Organization (WHO) said today, BBC reports.

As stated, the three of them are in stable condition.

The Institute of Public Health (IJZ) announced yesterday that there is also a Montenegrin citizen on the cruise ship, and that he is not ill and is in good health.

The ship is expected to leave Cape Verde and sail towards Spain's Canary Islands after the evacuation.

The Dutch ship operator Oceanwide Expeditions announced yesterday that two seriously ill crew members - a Briton and a Dutchman - and one passenger will be flown off the ship to the Netherlands.

After the evacuation, the plan is to go to the Canary Islands, either Gran Canaria or Tenerife, which will require three days of sailing, the operator said yesterday, adding that negotiations with the relevant authorities are underway.

Canary Islands leader Clavijo, who is currently in Brussels, said he is seeking an urgent meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Madrid to discuss the issue.

The ship is due to reach the Canary Islands in the next few days.

The World Health Organization has confirmed a third case of hantavirus in a Swiss man who returned to the country after a stay on a cruise ship. The WHO says the passenger responded to an email from the ship's operator informing passengers of the health situation and checked into a hospital in Zurich, where he is receiving appropriate care.

The WHO stated that it supports international contact tracing, to ensure that everyone who has been potentially exposed to the virus is tracked and to limit any possible further spread of the virus.