Chapter 1: What is the latest update on the MV Hondias and the hantavirus outbreak?
First this morning, confusion and questions around the destination of the MV Hondias, the luxury Dutch luxury ship at the centre of a suspected hantavirus outbreak. The ship, of course, has two Irish people on board. The Spanish Health Ministry agreed to let the ship dock at the Canary Islands following a request... from the WHO and the EU. Excuse me.
But now Reuters is reporting that the regional government of the Canary Islands is opposed to allowing the ship dock there. For more on this, I'm joined by freelance journalist in Tenerife, Cliona O'Flynn. Cliona, good morning to you.
Good morning, David. How are you?
I'm very well, thanks. Lots of confusion now about what's going on with this ship. What is the latest?
Well, what we're hearing officially is that the ship will be docking in Tenerife.
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Chapter 2: Why is there confusion about the ship's docking location in the Canary Islands?
I mean, we have literally just in the last few minutes had this confirmed that it will be Tenerife because while locally it was thought it would come to these islands, there was still no confirmation it could have gone to Gran Canaria. Both Tenerife and Gran Canaria would be the two islands that would have docked.
the best hospital facilities to look after any patients or any passengers that might become patients. But underneath all of this, you have a rumbling row still ongoing about why the Canary Islands has been picked. The regional president, Fernando Clavijo, yesterday evening was saying that he still didn't feel that it was appropriate.
He didn't know why the ship couldn't carry on to the Netherlands. But late last night, the Spanish government agreed to the World Health Organization's request, said it had a legal and moral obligation to allow the ship stuck in the Canary Islands because it is the first available port that the ship would meet as it kind of drives up along the west coast of Africa from where it is at the moment.
So Canarian Television are reporting this morning that the ship is coming here to Tenerife. But the political row, I think, will continue because one of the big questions still to be answered is how are passengers then to be transferred from the ship Do they go straight to an airplane? Do they go to a hotel to quarantine? How will that transportation happen?
There's so many questions that are being asked and haven't been answered yet.
Yeah, I was just reading a reporting of Mr. Clavico's comments. He says, this decision is not based on any technical criteria, nor is there sufficient information to reassure the public or guarantee their safety. And I would imagine there's an understandable level of concern about all this.
Well, there is. I mean, just this morning, about 20 minutes ago, the regional government spokesperson, a guy called Alfonso Cabello was on and he was detailing like at 12.57, we got an email from the Spanish health ministry saying we had to allow the ship to come in at 6 a.m. We've been told again.
So now the Fernando Clavico has insisted, has called for a meeting with Pedro Sanchez, the Spanish prime minister, because he is saying exactly what you're saying. We need enough information to be able to reassure the local population that there will be no danger of infection when these passengers arrive. online, I've been looking and talking to people, say the public who are here.
Now, there doesn't seem to be levels of concern rising, say on social media yet, but possibly because the confirmation only came through last night that the boats would be coming to Tenerife. In fact, I got more calls from my daughter in Dublin, who's Canarian, saying, Mom, what's going on? Why is that ship going to the Canary Islands?
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Chapter 3: What are the health and safety concerns regarding the passengers on board?
Than I have had from people living here in Tenerife at the moment. And there is a slight undertone, you know, these shades of COVID perhaps, even though all of the medical experts are saying this virus is not at the level of transmission that COVID had. But we remember the ships that were, you know, kind of abandoned almost at sea for weeks once COVID started to hit certain cruise ships.
And I think there will be that sense of, You know, are we looking at something similar once the ship begins to approach these islands? Because it will be three or four days before it gets here.
Right. Now, there was a medical evacuation due to happen before the ship left Cape Verde. Do we know? Has that gone ahead? Do we know?
Well, last night we weren't sure. It was said that there was an air ambulance on the way. And then again, we had spokespeople from here saying, well, that wasn't going to happen. But then about a half an hour ago, The reports are saying that the air ambulance has now arrived to Cape Verde, which was supposed to be taking at least the British doctor on board, who we know is very, very sick.
Now, where the ship is taking that doctor to We are not yet sure, because initially he and two other passengers were to be airlifted to La Candelaria, which is the main hospital here in the north of Tenerife, which is on standby now for the ship to arrive. But the confirmation of where that air ambulance is going to has yet to be 100% confirmed.
And again, that regional spokesperson, the regional government spokesperson, said about a half an hour ago that the destination was still not confirmed. And he was saying, why doesn't that...
air ambulance go straight to the netherlands because of course the ship's flag is the netherlands flag so that's why the talk of the netherlands is is part of this conversation you know clavicle was saying at some stage because it is a ship registered in the netherlands it should bypass the canary islands and go all the way to holland but you know geographically the canary islands is the first destination that the ship could dock at which has
the kind of medical facilities that are deemed necessarily to deal with any passengers who might be sick. So still a lot of confusion there. And I must say, I feel for the passengers on the ship because they would like to know where they're going to.
Of course they would. And there are two Irish citizens on the ship, as we know. I don't want to alarm you, Cliona, and I certainly don't want to alarm your daughter if she's listening in here in Dublin. But...
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Chapter 4: How is the local government responding to the hantavirus situation?
South Africa, where one of the people died and another man is in hospital, have identified the strain of Hantavirus as the Andean strain, which apparently can be transmitted from human to human. So that will add to concerns, I presume.
It will. And I mean, again, TV Canarias, which is the regional television station here this morning, they had reporters down at the port already and they're talking about the kind of sanitary protection units that would be in place down at the port. A lot of the times we are dealing also with a lot of boats coming in from West Africa with young migrants.
So the Red Cross are kind of used to dealing with putting in place mobile sanitation protection units units. So I would imagine that those kinds of plans are already now being put in place by the medical people here. And there was a doctor talking recently saying, even though they have now identified the virus as a human to human transmission virus, they're saying, listen, the risks
are very, very low. And the main concern now, I'd say, once it is confirmed that the boat is coming here, the next, the shift in the political concern will be, right, what we need to do is make sure that our people are protected.
One of the questions I think that will be asked as well, as well as how the passengers get off the boat and where they go initially, is what flights will they be using then to take them from Tenerife back to their country's destination? Because apart from concerns about the local population, most of the planes that leave here are tourist planes.
So there are planes returning to countries to Ireland, to Germany, to England. And I would imagine that any planes carrying a bunch load of tourists are not going to be happy to accept passengers, unfortunately, from this ship because of that very risk of human to human contagion. So are we going to be looking at each country sending planes to bring their people back home?
These are the kind of questions that are only beginning to be asked and obviously we still don't have answers for.
Okay. The Swiss government is reporting that one person infected with the Hantavirus is currently being treated in Zurich. So obviously that needs investigation. That's already happened. We'll bring you any more news we have on that. Clio Flynn, freelance journalist in Tenerife. Thank you so much for joining us.
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