{"id":8923,"date":"2026-05-06T12:53:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T12:53:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/8923\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T12:53:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T12:53:07","slug":"british-doctor-evacuated-to-netherlands-as-rat-virus-cruise-prepares-for-tense-tenerife-arrival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/8923\/","title":{"rendered":"British doctor evacuated to Netherlands as ‘Rat Virus’ cruise prepares for tense Tenerife arrival"},"content":{"rendered":"

06\/05\/2026<\/p>\n

Actualizado a las 14:49h.<\/p>\n

A major diplomatic and health crisis is unfolding in the Atlantic as the virus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius steers toward the Canary Islands.<\/a><\/p>\n

The voyage, which began in Argentina, has turned into a tragedy following a deadly outbreak of the Andes strain of hantavirus, which has claimed three lives and left several others infected.<\/p>\n

The focus of international attention has been the ship\u2019s British doctor, who fell critically ill while treating passengers. Following a night of conflicting reports – during which Tenerife officials claimed a planned medical airlift had been “cancelled” without explanation – the Spanish Health Ministry has confirmed his status. <\/p>\n

After his condition stabilised, the doctor was successfully evacuated from Cape Verde and is currently being flown directly to the Netherlands on a specialised medical aircraft, alongside two other infected patients.<\/p>\n

\nA political powder keg\n<\/p>\n

Despite the evacuation of the most critical cases, the ship and its remaining 144 passengers – including 23 Britons – continue their four-day journey toward the Port of Santa Cruz. The arrival is anything but welcome.<\/p>\n


\n\"14
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

Fernando Clavijo, President of the Canary Islands, has launched a blistering attack on the Spanish government, accusing them of “acting behind the backs” of local institutions. “If we do not have the proper information that guarantees the protection of our population, the Canary Islands government will not allow any ship to dock,” Clavijo stated, demanding an emergency meeting with Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez.<\/p>\n

\nThe repatriation plan\n<\/p>\n

The Spanish Health Ministry maintains it has a “moral and legal obligation” to assist, supported by a formal request from the WHO. Once the ship enters a “secure zone” in Tenerife, a strict protocol will begin:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Specialist Screening: Health teams in biohazard gear will board to examine all remaining passengers.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Strict Isolation: Passengers will be moved in small, isolated groups to avoid any contact with the local population.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Homebound Flights: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has assured that plans are in place for the safe onward travel of the 23 British nationals on board<\/p>\n

For those still on the MV Hondius, the luxury of the “Antarctic Discovery” cruise has been replaced by a sterile, floating quarantine. As they navigate the final leg of this harrowing journey, the eyes of the international health community remain fixed on the ship, watching for any sign that this rare, human-to-human strain has spread further.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"06\/05\/2026 Actualizado a las 14:49h. A major diplomatic and health crisis is unfolding in the Atlantic as the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8924,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4991,7471,7476,7472,7473,4992,6,7477,7474,7479,7478,7475],"class_list":{"0":"post-8923","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-netherlands","8":"tag-arrival","9":"tag-british","10":"tag-cruise","11":"tag-doctor","12":"tag-evacuated","13":"tag-for","14":"tag-netherlands","15":"tag-prepares","16":"tag-rat","17":"tag-tenerife","18":"tag-tense","19":"tag-virus"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}