One of the Spaniards on the cruise tests provisionally positive for hantavirus

BarcelonaOne of the fourteen Spanish passengers on the cruise ship MV Hondius isolated at the Gómez Ulla Hospital has provisionally tested positive for hantavirus in the PCR test performed when the group entered this military center in Madrid to undergo quarantine. The other thirteen cruise ship passengers, on the other hand, have tested negative and will undergo a second test within seven days. The positive passenger is a man who, according to the Ministry of Health, is in good health and shows no symptoms. Following protocol, biological samples will be re-analyzed in the coming hours, and if the same result is repeated, he will be transferred to the High-Level Isolation and Treatment Unit (Uatan) of the same hospital, with stricter and more specific conditions for treating infectious diseases. The rest of the passengers will continue in individual rooms. The medical news coincided with the completion of the ship's evacuation operation and the repatriation of all passengers, except for about twenty crew members who have set sail for the port of Rotterdam, in the Netherlands. "Mission accomplished," said the Minister of Health, Mónica García, in a press conference from the port of Granadilla, in Tenerife, where only disinfection of the facilities remains.

The Spanish passenger's positive test was not the only one among his traveling companions who have already been repatriated. In fact, this was a situation that was within the World Health Organization's (WHO) predictions. France has also confirmed a positive case for a woman who began to develop a fever during the flight that was taking her back home. Within a few hours, her health deteriorated, and she was admitted to the intensive care unit, where she is "stable." The United States has also reported another "mild" infection, although it has not been accounted for in the WHO's update on the outbreak's balance.

For experts, the appearance of new cases among the travelers and crew of the MV Hondius is not at all strange: the incubation period of hantavirus –from when someone gets infected until they show symptoms– can exceed 40 days. Initially, Spanish health authorities have established a 42-day quarantine –until June 17– for people who have a negative PCR and do not present symptoms, but according to epidemiological studies, this period can be adjusted. Therefore, health authorities insist that vigilance must be maintained and ensure that everyone who traveled on the cruise takes adequate isolation measures to avoid new outbreaks, while emphasizing that the current situation has nothing to do with the COVID health crisis, neither in scope nor in the way the pathogen is transmitted.

The contagion of the cruise passenger has tarnished the final stretch of the operation that for 40 hours has evacuated and repatriated the 150 passengers of the affected ship. Minister García appeared on the dock of the port of Granadilla to show the Spanish government's satisfaction with how the device has worked. "Mission accomplished," she proclaimed, satisfied. García valued that the objective has been met "with efficiency, commitment, transparency, and humanity." Beside her, the Secretary-General of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who has followed the entire operation from the ground, wanted to congratulate the work of the Spanish teams.

At the last minute, due to bad weather, the ship that had been anchored since its arrival on Sunday, has had to dock in port to guarantee the safety and protection of the 32 passengers who still remained on board and the personnel working on the evacuation operation. The ship's situation sparked a political crisis between the Canary Islands government, which showed its refusal to any attempt to bring it closer and for the affected people to set foot on Canary Islands soil, and the Spanish government, which agreed to the WHO's request to accommodate the cruise ship. Despite everything, the planned schedule was followed and at seven in the evening (one hour later in Catalonia), the MV Hondius set sail for Rotterdam with about thirty crew members and two WHO health workers, while the rest of the passengers were already flying home.

WHO's satisfaction

With the entire operation now complete, the WHO official has highlighted the good coordination with Spain and insisted that the decision to empty the cruise ship and repatriate passengers by plane from Tenerife has been "the best option" to provide better care for those affected on board a ship. "If they had stayed longer on the ship, it would have been worse." Adhamon recounted how staying for weeks on a ship impacts the mental and physical health of those affected. At this point, he recalled that the WHO does not have the capacity to impose protocols on any country, but expressed confidence that all those who have received passengers from the ship will follow isolation recommendations and show "empathy" towards those affected.

The ship's captain, Jan Dobrogowski, also thanked the passengers and crew for their behavior during weeks he described as "extremely difficult." In this regard, he explained that he was moved by their "patience," "discipline," and "kindness," and said he is confident of "seeing everyone healthy and at home." In a video, Dobrogowski, who had words of remembrance for the passengers who lost their lives due to the hantavirus outbreak, also asked for privacy for the crew, passengers, and their families. He warned that in "a situation like this," every image or word "can be taken out of context" and that "it will be very painful."

Furthermore, the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, and Adhanom will hold a meeting this Tuesday at the Moncloa Palace to analyze the situation caused by the hantavirus crisis and will later hold a press conference.