Passengers in hazmat gear evacuated from virus-stricken cruise ship as global repatriation operation begins

Passengers began disembarking the ship between 8:30 and 9:30 AM after spending days stuck on board the virus-riddled ship.

Passengers and crew were tested by Spanish health authorities to ensure they remained asymptomatic before they disembarked. 

A chartered Titan Airways flight departed from the Canary Islands’ southern airport on Sunday evening, with the Airbus A320’s passengers to be taken from Manchester Airport to isolate at the UK’s initial Covid quarantine site.

While they were being bussed from the port at Granadilla de Abona to Tenerife South Airport, some British passengers, clad in blue PPE, waved and gave thumbs up as they passed watching media.

23 countries are coordinating to get the holidaymakers home, with the last flight taking a passenger home to Australia tomorrow.

There are 149 people on board, with 22 British. None are believed to be showing any symptoms.

Garcia said the passengers evacuated the ship in groups, by nationality and in this order:

• Spain
• The Netherlands (flight will also take passengers from Germany, Belgium, and Greece)
• Turkey
• France
• UK
• US

LBC’s Fraser Knight said: "The whole port here has been taken over by health and military officials - like something out of a film.

"Helicopters are circling, police cars are racing by and officials are dressed head to toe in white hazmat suits.

"Standing amongst the world’s media on the dock, we can see the MV Hondius anchored about 100 meters out on the harbor.

"There’s been a steady stream of small boats heading out to it, first to test and then to collect Spanish nationals, who are now on their way to Madrid.

"The operation feels slick. All of the passengers seem to be wearing blue plastic ponchos and face masks."

LBC understands British passengers and crew will initially be taken to isolate at Arrowe Park Hospital, in Merseyside, where they will receive clinical testing as a precautionary measure.

All British passengers and crew will then be asked to self-isolate at home for up to 45 days upon returning to the UK.

After the passengers disembarked, 30 crew members are remaining on board and will sail to the Netherlands, where the ship will be disinfected.

A letter from the chief executive of Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said the group “will be welcoming the guests on Sunday 10 May”.

The site was previously used to receive people returning from China at the start of the Covid pandemic in 2020.

The risk to the general public remains very low. Professor Robin May, Chief Scientific Officer at the UK Health Security Agency, said: "We continue to work at pace with our international partners to ensure the safe repatriation of British nationals from the MV Hondius.

"The safety and well-being of those on board remain our number one priority. Established infection control measures will be in place at every step of the journey, and passengers will receive full support throughout, including during their period of isolation.

"We recognize that this has been an incredibly difficult and unsettling time for those affected and their loved ones at home. As they prepare for their journey back to the UK, we ask the media to respect the privacy of passengers and their families during what remains a challenging time."

Who are the three Brits ill with hantavirus?

The World Health Organization confirmed late yesterday that there are now eight cases of hantavirus - including three British Nationals.

• One is believed to be a 69-year-old man who was taken to South Africa on 27 April and is being treated at a private health facility in Sandton, Johannesburg.
• The other confirmed Brit with the virus is 56-year-old Martin Anstee who was taken off the ship on Wednesday and flown to the Netherlands for specialist care along with a Dutch crew colleague and a German passenger.
• There is a third suspected British case who disembarked at Tristan da Cunha as they live there and are being supported by local health authorities.

Three people have died so far after falling ill with the virus - a Dutch couple, both aged 69, and a German passenger. It is not yet confirmed whether they all died of the virus.

This comes as angry Tenerife dock workers gathered to protest against the arrival of the cruise ship as it approaches the island’s port.

The dockers held banners as they assembled outside the Canary Islands’ parliament building in Santa Cruz to express concerns about the health risk and the lack of information ahead of the ship’s arrival.

One protester’s banner read: "They block our work, they bring us danger", while another stated: "This is not help. This is a botched job".

The WHO has sought to reassure “worried” Tenerife residents that they will not encounter passengers of the hantavirus-hit cruise ship set to dock on their island.

In a letter addressed to the people of Tenerife, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he knew residents were “worried”.

He said the virus was “serious” but the outbreak was “not another Covid” and the “current public health risk from hantavirus remains low”.

He added: “Spain’s authorities have prepared a careful, step-by-step plan: passengers will be ferried ashore at the industrial port of Granadilla, far from residential areas, in sealed, guarded vehicles, through a completely cordoned-off corridor, and repatriated directly to their home countries.”

The outbreak has been connected to a birdwatching expedition in Argentina that two of the passengers went on before boarding the ship.