Overview
- Spain’s health ministry confirmed late Tuesday that the MV Hondius will head to the Canary Islands for controlled disembarkation and care.
- WHO counts stand at two laboratory-confirmed infections, five suspected cases, and three deaths linked to the voyage, with limited spread among close contacts viewed as possible.
- Medical evacuations are in progress, including two crew members who need urgent treatment and the ship’s British doctor, who is reported to be gravely ill.
- Investigators are sequencing patient samples to identify the strain, with the Andes virus a working hypothesis based on the Argentina origin and its rare human-to-human transmission.
- Passengers remain confined to cabins as contact tracing widens to a St. Helena–Johannesburg flight, and health officials say the risk to the general public is low.