UK hospital reassures public over risk from hantavirus passengers

The UK Health Security Agency also said the risk was very low.

The Hondius anchored off Granadilla port in Tenerife around dawn on Sunday after the Spanish government abandoned plans to dock the vessel after objections from Canary Islands residents.

Health workers in biohazard suits were seen boarding the Hondius to inspect the 147 people on board for symptoms of the rat-borne virus.

Small boats began ferrying passengers to the dock – Spanish passengers first – where they immediately boarded military buses to take them to the airport.

The passengers, wearing masks and blue protective coverings, could be seen taking photographs of each other to mark the end of the voyage.

Six planes, including one chartered by the UK Government, were waiting at Tenerife’s airport. A Spanish military aircraft was the first to depart, followed by a Dutch plane taking citizens from the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Greece off the island.

Three deaths have been linked to the Hondius outbreak of hantavirus, which is a rare strain that can transmit from humans to humans.

- The Telegraph

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