Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain).- Spain will not refuse to assist in the Canary Islands the Dutch cruise ship that has suffered an outbreak of
hantavirus during a voyage through the South Atlantic, because it considers it its humanitarian obligation, there are Spaniards on board and the hospitals of that archipelago “are prepared”.
“Let’s have peace of mind and confidence in our healthcare system. Everything will be done under the guidance of the
World Health Organization (WHO)“, said the government delegate in the Canary Islands, Anselmo Pestana, to journalists this Tuesday, who at that moment was waiting for the United Nations agency to ask for support.
Almost at the same time as he made these statements, the WHO confirmed from Geneva (Switzerland) that it plans for the cruise ship to go to the Canary Islands.
“We are working with the Spanish authorities, who will receive the ship, as they have announced: they will carry out an exhaustive investigation, a complete epidemiological investigation, a total disinfection of the ship and, of course, they will assess the risk of the passengers on board,” said the director of prevention and preparedness for epidemics and pandemics at WHO, Maria Van Kerkhove.
This Tuesday the cruise ship MV Hondius is anchored with 147 people on board off Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, whose Government has denied it entry to its ports.
The WHO has raised to seven the number of people affected by this hantavirus outbreak, a type of virus that is usually transmitted from rats to people through direct contact with rodents or their droppings. Among the seven cases, two already confirmed in the laboratory, are those of the three people who have died.
Pestana explained that the Spanish Ministry of Health and the Canary Islands Government are awaiting the needs that the WHO transmits to them to coordinate the assistance that is necessary.
“The Canary Islands and Spain are prepared for these issues. We have a robust health system, capable of facing that challenge,” he added.
“If we have to assume that role, it will be assumed with confidence in a robust, important public system that works, that has faced significant challenges without major problems or with the same problems as any other advanced health system,” he reasoned.
He underlined that in the will to help the cruise ship, not only does the fact that “there are 14 Spaniards on board” weigh, but also the conviction that “refusing would be a kind of omission of the duty to assist.” “We must be supportive,” he added.
Pestana pointed out that the islands not only have top-level hospitals, but also have an air logistics capacity that will facilitate the cruise passengers to leave for their countries of origin once they are attended to and deemed appropriate.
The company chartering the cruise ship,
Oceanwide Expeditions, has specified that there are citizens of 23 nationalities on board the MV Hondius, including passengers and crew. The largest group is the Filipinos, with 38; followed by the British, with 23; the Americans, with 17; and the Spanish, with 14.
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Pestana emphasized that
all necessary measures will be taken “to face that challenge with minimal risk or no risk to the population of the Canary Islands.”
On behalf of the Canarian Government, its
vice president, Manuel Domínguez, confirmed that its hospitals are ready, although he requested guarantees that the cruise ship will be attended to in safe conditions for the rest of the population.
“We are going to demand all possible guarantees so that people at risk are taken care of, but also so that those of us who live on this land do not suffer any kind of harm,” Domínguez told reporters.
