Get you up to speed: Spain allows passengers to disembark MV Hondius following hantavirus outbreak
Passengers have disembarked from the MV Hondius at Granadilla de Abona port in Tenerife following a hantavirus outbreak that resulted in three deaths. The British nationals, among the last group to leave, will be taken to Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral, Merseyside for isolation.
Passengers from MV Hondius have disembarked in Tenerife after being stranded due to a hantavirus outbreak that resulted in three deaths. According to the UK Health Security Agency, the 22 British nationals will be taken to Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside for a six-week isolation period upon their return.
The first buses carrying passengers from MV Hondius have arrived at Tenerife airport, with the 14 Spanish nationals being flown to a hospital in Madrid. British nationals will be taken to Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral, where they will isolate for six weeks upon their return home.
Hantavirus cruise ship passengers reach land in ‘unprecedented’ operation | News World
Passengers stranded on board a luxury cruise ship at the centre of a deadly rat-virus outbreak have finally reached land.
The first group of symptomless guests have disembarked from MV Hondius in the Granadilla de Abona port in Tenerife.
A total of 146 people – including 22 Brits – have been trapped on the doomed liner for weeks after three passengers died from confirmed and suspected hantavirus.
Dressed in blue scrubs and head caps, some of the individuals were taking photos of one another as they were brought to shore.
The first sealed-off bus carrying people to the nearby airport has also left the port.
The British nationals will be one of the last groups to leave the ship and are all due to be taken to Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral, Merseyside, which was used as a quarantine site at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Pinned Update May 10, 2026 9:03 am
Army parachuted into remote Atlantic Island to help infected Brit
A tandem parachute jump with the ICU Nurse and a paratrooper from 16 Air Assult on to Saint Helena (Picture: Georgia Callaway/MoD/Crown Copyright/PA Wire)
A daring parachute drop has taken place on Saint Helena – Britian’s most remote overseas territory – to get medical support to the British national who is thought to have contracted hantavirus.
A specialist army team parachuted onto the island, which has no airstrip, with medical personnel and supplies.
It is the first time the UK military has inserted medical personnel to provide humanitarian support via a parachute jump, the Ministry of Defence said.
May 10, 2026 10:45 am
Buses arrive at Tenerife airport for evacuation flights
The first buses carrying MV Hondius passengers have arrived at nearby Tenerife airport.
The coach is surrounded by health workers in white hazmat suits.
The 14 Spanish nationals taken off the ship first will be flown by military aircraft to a hospital in Madrid.
May 10, 2026 9:23 am
Disembarked Brits will isolate for six weeks once they’ve returned home
Medical crew are preparing to take MV Hondius guests off the boat (Picture: ANP/Shutterstock)
British passengers and crew will have to isolate for six weeks once they return home to the UK.
The UK Health Security Agency has unveiled how they will handle the 22 British nationals due to leave MV Hondius.
Once they land in the country, they will be escorted onto dedicated transport and transferred to an isolation facility at Arrowe Park Hospital in Merseyside.
From there, they will be tested again for the virus and their living arrangements will be assessed to determine whether they need to isolate from home or the hospital.
All crew and passengers will then be asked to isolate for up to 45 days while they are monitored and tested.
May 10, 2026 9:06 am
Brits will be among last to leave doomed ship
Spain’s health minister has announced the running order of nationalities disembarking MV Hondius to be taken home.
running order of the nationalities disembarking the ship:
Spain
The Netherlands (flight will also take passengers from Germany, Belgium and Greece)
Turkey
France
UK
US
Australia
May 10, 2026 8:55 am
Spanish health officials testing passengers before they disembark
Morning, welcome to WTX’s live blog following the developments live as MV Hondius arrives in the Canary Islands.
Health officials have arrived on board the doomed liner to check that all passengers and crew are still asymptomatic.
If they are, they will be taken off the boat in groups to be driven to the airport and taken home.
May 9, 2026 9:25 pm
live coverage ends for today
We are wrapping up our live coverage for today, but please follow along tomorrow as MV Hondius is set to arrive to Tenerife.
May 9, 2026 8:09 pm
What will happen when MV Hondius arrives?
The hantavirus cruise ship MV Hondius’s arrival on Tenerife will be handled by Spanish health officials.
The ship will stay anchored in the harbour basin, with a tugboat
Each passenger will be medically evaluated before they disembark to make sure they are not showing symptoms
Unloading of the people will be handled using small boats and at stages
Spanish citizens are set to get off first
Everyone involved will wear masks
The body of the deceased passenger will continue on to the Netherlands
May 9, 2026 3:46 pm
Merseyside hospital ‘set to welcome Britons on cruise’
A hospital in Merseyside has been named as a site where British passengers on the hantavirus cruise will be taken to isolate, according to Sky News.
The people flown in from MV Hondius to the UK will be taken to Arrowe Park on the Wirral, Merseyside.
The hospital is reportedly on standby to welcome ‘the guests on Sunday, May 10.’
Janelle Holmes, the chief executive for Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said in a letter: ‘We have been asked by NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency to house the guests, recognising how quickly and positively we responded to and supported the repatriation of British nationals from Wuhan and the Diamond Princess prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.’
May 9, 2026 3:12 pm
First victim of hantavirus outbreak named
(Picture: Leo Schilperoord/Facebook)
The first passenger to die of hantavirus on MV Hondius has been named as ornithologist Leo Schilperoord.
The 70-year-old had boarded the ship with his wife Miriam after they visited a landfill in Argentina, where they are believed to have caught the virus.
He was the first person to die, with Miriam dying a few days later trying to board a flight back home to the Netherlands from South Africa.
The couple were on a five-month trip in South America, and travelled to the landfill site as it is home to a rare species of Patagonian birds, including the White-bellied Seedsnipe.
May 9, 2026 1:10 pm
Two hospitalised in Spain after hantavirus contact
Two people in Spain are now isolating after coming into contact with hantavirus.
One person is being treated in a hospital in Barcelona after coming into contact with the virus on a flight.
A second person is suffering with symptoms and is self-isolating in a hospital in Alicante.
May 9, 2026 12:29 pm
European countries will send evacuation planes
Germany, France, Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands announced they will evacuate nationals from the cruise ship when it docks.
The EU is planning to send two further planes for remaining European nationals, according to Spain’s interior ministry.
The UK and US have confirmed planes and contingency plans were being arranged for non-EU citizens whose countries couldn’t send planes, Reuters reports.
Fernando Grande-Marlaska from the ministry said passengers will be allowed to disembark once their evacuation plane is ready to leave.
May 9, 2026 11:56 am
MV Hondius will dock early tomorrow morning
The Spanish government has said hantavirus-hit MV Hondius will dock in Tenerife between 4am and 6am tomorrow.
Spanish citizens will disembark from the vessel first.
Some of the crew will remain on board and travel to the Netherlands with the body of a person who died on May 2.
May 9, 2026 10:35 am
More plane passengers test negative for virus
A Danish passenger who flew on the same flight as someone who contracted hantavirus has tested negative.
They flew from Johannesburg to Amsterdam on a plane on which an infected person also travelled, the SSI authority said last night.
A flight attendant also tested negative for the virus.
May 9, 2026 9:03 am
US evacuating 17 citizens from hantavirus cruise ship
The US has shared its plan for medically repatriating 17 people on board MV Hondius.
Once the ship arrives in the Canary Islands, a US government medical flight will take passengers to Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska.
They will then be transported to the National Quarantine Center at the University of Nebraska.
Donald Trump said the virus ‘seems to be okay’, adding ‘it is not easy to pass on’.
He added: ‘We hope that’s true.’
May 9, 2026 8:54 am
Number of confirmed hantavirus cases rises to six
The number of confirmed cases of hantavirus has risen from five to six, the World Health Organisation has said.
Eight people in total have fallen ill, including three who have died.
There are now six confirmed cases with two suspected cases.
Four patients remain in hospital.
May 8, 2026 9:05 pm
Live coverage wraps up
It is time to end today’s rolling hantavirus coverage.
Thank you for following along.
May 8, 2026 8:18 pm
MV Hondius to dock in Tenerife on Sunday
The MV Hondius cruise is to arrive in the Canary Islands on Sunday.
Officials are working to organise a dedicated repatriation flight for British passengers.
Britons will be tested for hantavirus onboard the ship, and will be flown home the same day if they have a negative result and display no symptoms.
The vessel is on track to land in Tenerife on Sunday, subject to weather conditions.
May 8, 2026 6:00 pm
Dutch hantavirus victim’s body repatriated
The body of a Dutch woman who died after contracting hantavirus has been repatriated, South African officials have confirmed.
Health department spokesperson Foster Mogale told reporters the unnamed woman’s body was returned to the Netherlands on a KLM flight.
Posthumous tests have returned a positive result for hantavirus.
She was among dozens who left the MV Hondius while it was docked in St Helena.
It’s unclear whether the body of her 70-year-old husband, who also died in the outbreak, has been repatriated.
May 8, 2026 5:55 pm
Spanish authorities preparing to welcome MV Hondius
Afternoon all, it’s Ryan Prosser to take you through the evening.
Authorities in Tenerife are preparing to welcome the MV Hondius cruise ship.
Health officials have drawn up plans to evacuate the some 140 passengers and crew when the stricken vessel arrives in the Canary Islands.
At least three passengers have died, and several others are sick. None of the remaining passengers or crew is currently showing symptoms.
Both the UK and the US are arranging flights to repatriate their citizens. The WHO says the risk of hantavirus to the wider public remains low.
Passengers who disembarked the vessel before the outbreak was detected are being tracked by health authorities.
May 8, 2026 4:06 pm
Those still on MV Hondius report no symptoms
The passengers who remain on the hantavirus-hit cruise ship are not reporting any symptoms, the World Health Organisation has said.
Those who have been exposed to the virus have been asked to self-isolate with regular medical checks
The World Health Organisation’s technical officer Anais Legand said: ‘They will be asked to take their temperature every single day for 42 days, they will be asked to check every day for other symptoms like feeling unwell or a headache
‘They will be provided with someone to contact if they’re not feeling well, it’s up to the national authorities where people will go next.
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