Overview
- Following Wednesday’s air evacuations to the Netherlands, Spain set Tenerife as the processing point this weekend under WHO and EU protocols.
- Laboratories identified the strain as Andes hantavirus, a rodent-borne virus from South America that can rarely spread between people after long, close contact.
- A former passenger in Zurich tested positive, and a KLM flight attendant exposed on April 25 is hospitalized in Amsterdam for testing and care.
- The Canary Islands’ president opposed docking, yet health authorities kept the plan and now expect the ship to stay offshore with direct transfers to the airport.
- WHO reported three deaths and eight linked cases, judged the public risk low, and expanded global contact tracing after more than 20 passengers left the ship at Saint Helena, while investigators examine a possible exposure during birdwatching near a landfill in Ushuaia.