Tenerife, Canary Islands
Since round 8 a.m. this morning, the little boat ferrying passengers from the MV Hondius to shore has been shuttling back and forth.
The hundred or so journalists parked not removed from the Port of Granadilla have watched a gradual and fastidiously coordinated ballet as the boat transports 5 passengers at a time to the port that has lastly agreed to take them in. This adopted 5 weeks at sea and almost 10 days of uncertainty and worry since the Andes strain of the hantavirus was recognized on board the ship.
Spanish well being authorities had vowed, so as to reassure locals, that anybody coming off the ship would solely encounter the navy or well being personnel gathered right here to take them onwards to their flights home. And, up to now, it’s confirmed to be the case. From the place NCS was stationed, the tent the place the passengers are ushered in by people carrying full hazmat fits was seen – in scenes reminiscent of Covid time.
In a message to the people of Tenerife on Saturday Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director normal of the World Health Organization, acknowledged the fear that is natural for all of us, six years on from the beginning of the pandemic.
But this, he defined, just isn’t that.
Little by little because the begin of this outbreak, the group has been finding out how this pressure of hantavirus is behaving. One WHO epidemiologist on the port Sunday informed NCS it seems to be transmitted solely from somebody exhibiting signs to another person in very shut contact. So far, so very totally different from Covid.
Still, judging by the dimensions of the press corps gathered on the small port of Granadilla on the very southern tip of Tenerife in the present day, the worry has been actual.
Journalists from the American networks have been there, but additionally, judging from the languages spoken, from many European international locations as nicely. There have been 23 totally different nationalities on board the cruise that ought to have been the journey of a lifetime via the penguin populations of the Antarctic, not to point out the southern Atlantic island of St. Helena the place Napoleon died, however that changed into the cruise from hell. The presence of so many journalists can also be a measure of how nervous people are.
Which is why relief for everybody on the port of Granadilla in the present day has been so actual. Authorities are guaranteeing not solely that the method is thorough but additionally that it’s clear – therefore the entry for the media in such shut proximity to the method.
Given all the eye the Hondius has had, it actually felt to the journalists right here this morning, like a relief. At final, after greater than 5 weeks on board, some passengers are again on dry land. The finish of one ordeal is over.
Now, whereas every nation has its personal protocols in place, the passengers of the Hondius are all dealing with the following half: quarantine and then isolation for a minimum of six weeks.
Not fairly life as it was, however a minimum of life once more on dry land. And hope that it’ll get again to regular quickly.