Tenerife: The evacuation of the final group of passengers from the MV Hondius cruise ship, which is facing a Hantavirus outbreak in Tenerife, Spain, has been completed. The cruise ship has departed for the Netherlands for further disinfection procedures.

According to Thai News Agency, the last six passengers, consisting of four Australians, one Briton, and one New Zealander, along with some crew and doctors, disembarked the ship at a port on the island of Tenerife. They were then transported by bus to an airport to board two chartered flights bound for the Netherlands. One plane will continue on to Australia for the passengers to undergo quarantine procedures as mandated by the Australian government.

Following a smooth evacuation, the cruise ship is left with only 25 crew members, one doctor, and one nurse to navigate its journey to the Netherlands. The voyage is expected to take approximately six days, with the ship scheduled to arrive at the port of Rotterdam on Sunday evening local time.

To date, the outbreak has resulted in three deaths. The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed seven cases and two suspected cases. Some French and American passengers have begun showing symptoms or testing positive after returning to their home countries. All passengers and crew members evacuated must be under surveillance and quarantine for 42-45 days because this virus has a relatively long incubation period, potentially up to nine weeks. However, public health officials and the WHO confirm that the risk to the general public remains very low, as the virus does not spread as easily as COVID-19, even though the circulating strain is the rare Andes variant, which can spread from person to person through prolonged close contact.