Hantavirus latest: Cruise ship to dock in Tenerife early Sunday as UK sends plane to evacuate passengersnewsline24

The head of the World ⁠Health Organisation has touched down in Spain today, where he will join senior ⁠government ​officials in ⁠Tenerife to oversee the ⁠evacuation of passengers ​on the hantavirus-hit cruise ship.

Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebrey said he was in contact with the ship’s captain and a WHO colleague that is on board the boat.

There are no additional people on ⁠board showing symptoms of ‌Hantavirus, he said.

Donald Trump said yesterday that hantavirus was “under very good control” in the US.

”We have it,” he told reporters. “We have very good people looking at it. It seems to be okay. They know the virus very well, they’ve worked with it for a long time.

“[It’s] not easy to pass on. We hope that’s true.”

He added it was “not easily transferable, unlike Covid.”

Asked if the US would consider leaving the World Health Organisation over the outbreak, he said: “No, we seem to have things under very good control.”

In an update on Friday, the US centre for disease control (CDC), said: “To date, no cases of Andes virus have been reported in the United States as a result of this outbreak.

“At this time, the overall risk to travellers and the American public remains extremely low. Routine travel can continue as normal.

“CDC is working with the US state department and other US government partners to get Americans on the ship home as quickly and as safely as possible.”

Several European governments will be sending planes to Tenerife on Sunday to evacuate nationals on the hantavirus-hit cruise ship

Spain’s interior minister has confirmed that Germany, France, Belgium, Ireland, and the Netherlands are among the countries sending aircraft.

The US and UK have also confirmed planes and contingency plans were ‌being arranged ​for non-EU ‌citizens whose ⁠countries were unable to ⁠send air transport, Fernando Grande-Marlaska said.

He added that the European ‌Union is sending ‌two further planes for the remaining ⁠European citizens.

The hantavirus-stricken cruise ship is due to dock in Tenerife on Sunday, and with it, the 140 passengers who have been stuck on the boat for weeks.

Health officials have said they will perform careful evacuations, and passengers will be taken to a “completely isolated, cordoned-off area.”

Both the UK and the US are sending planes to evacuate their citizens from the ship.

Once the vessel reaches Tenerife, passengers will be evacuated in small boats to buses only after their repatriation flights are ready to take them, Spanish officials said Friday.

Passengers will be transported in isolated and guarded vehicles, and the parts of the airport they travel through will be cordoned off.

Their impending arrival has been met with protest on the island, as residents fear for their safety.

But officials have sought to reassure the public in the Canary Islands about possible exposure to the virus among the general population.

Christian Lindmeier, a WHO spokesman, said: “The risk remains absolutely low,” adding: “This is not a new Covid.”

The World Health Organisation considers the risk to the wider public from the outbreak as low.

On Friday, the WHO said a flight attendant on a plane briefly boarded by an infected cruise passenger has tested negative for hantavirus. Her possible infection had raised concerns about the virus’ potential transmissibility.

The flight attendant’s negative result should ease concerns among the public, said Christian Lindmeier, a WHO spokesman. “The risk remains absolutely low,” he said. “This is not a new Covid.”

Hantavirus is usually spread by the inhalation of contaminated rodent droppings and isn’t easily transmitted between people. But the Andes virus detected in the cruise ship outbreak may be able to spread between people in rare cases. Symptoms usually show between one and eight weeks after exposure.

Health authorities across four continents were tracking down and monitoring more than two dozen passengers who disembarked the ship before the deadly outbreak was detected. They were also scrambling to trace others who may have come into contact with them.

In interviews with The Associated Press, two Spanish passengers — speaking on condition of anonymity because of fears they’ll be ostracised once on land — said that despite the outbreak, their days aboard have passed with relative tranquility.

Some people are bird-watching, and others are gathering in common areas to read or attend talks, while wearing masks and social distancing. Both passengers told AP they’re worried about how they’ll be treated in Spain and once home.

“We’re scared by all the news that’s coming out, by how people are going to receive us, by how people see us,” one said. “We’re just normal people. We’ve heard that this is a millionaires’ cruise, and it’s the complete opposite of reality. And we’re scared by this.”

Spanish authorities on Friday were preparing to receive more than 140 passengers and crew members on board a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship headed for the Canary Islands, where health officials have said they will perform careful evacuations.

The vessel is expected to arrive Sunday at the Spanish island of Tenerife, off the coast of West Africa, and passengers will be taken to a “completely isolated, cordoned-off area,” said the head of Spain’s emergency services, Virginia Barcones.

Both the US and the UK have agreed to send planes to evacuate their citizens from the cruise ship.