Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's chief epidemiologist, recommends "active surveillance and follow-up" of all passengers and crew members for 42 days from the time they disembark.
We count everyone on board as so-called high-risk contacts, Van Kerkhove says.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addresses the residents of Tenerife in an open letter, emphasizing that the risk of being infected with the dangerous virus is small.
This is not Covid. The public health risk from hantavirus is low, he says.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez states in a post on X that it is "a moral and legal duty" to receive the Hondius.
Most of the nearly 150 passengers are to be evacuated from the Canary Islands and flown to their home countries in a carefully prepared operation. Among them are around 24 British passengers and crew, as well as two Irish people. None of them are showing any symptoms of hantavirus infection.
Six cases of hantavirus infection have been confirmed following the outbreak on the cruise ship. A total of eight suspected cases have been reported, including three deaths.
