European states to send planes to evacuate citizens from hantavirus-hit cruise ship

Source: Yahoo! News/Reuters

Sat, May 9, 2026 at 1:21 PM EDT


TENERIFE/MADRID, May 9 (Reuters) - Countries prepared to evacuate their citizens from the luxury cruise ship hit by a deadly strain of hantavirus that is due to anchor near Tenerife early on Sunday, as health authorities said the risk of the virus ‌spreading was low.

The World Health Organization briefed member states with nationals on board on Saturday on how to manage the process, ‌advising active monitoring of passengers for a 42-day period from the last point of exposure.

“I need you to hear me clearly: this is not another COVID. The current public ​health risk from hantavirus remains low,” World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote in a letter to the public published on X earlier on Saturday.

He said he wanted to take the unusual step of sharing a statement to address people’s concerns. “Passengers will be ferried ashore at the industrial port of Granadilla, far from residential areas, in sealed, guarded vehicles, through a completely cordoned-off corridor, and repatriated directly to their home countries. You will not encounter them”, ‌he added.

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/germany-france-belgium-ireland-netherlands-110250204.html