WHO director says he will personally oversee hantavirus cruise evacuation

""I will be there myself," Tedros said in a letter addressed to the people of the Canary Islands, where the ship will anchor off the coast of its largest island, Tenerife. "I intend to travel to Tenerife to observe this operation firsthand, to stand alongside the health workers, port staff, and officials who are making it happen, and to personally pay my respects to an island that has responded to a difficult situation with grace, solidarity, and compassion. Your humanity deserves to be witnessed, not just acknowledged from a distance.""

"The ship is currently sailing toward Tenerife, part of the Spanish and is expected to reach the island just before dawn on Sunday local time, or around midnight U.S. Eastern time, according to officials. Nine people on the ship had confirmed or suspected cases of the hantavirus and three people have died, according to health officials. None of the 147 people currently on board, including 60 crew members, are symptomatic, according to Oceanwide Expeditions, which owns the vessel."

""I'm sure they're very anxious to get home, but (we need) to make sure they do that in the most safe way possible," Maria van Kerkhove, WHO's acting director of the Department of Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention, said at a press conference on Saturday."

"There are 17 Americans on the MV Hondius, according to Oceanwide Expeditions, who will be taken off the ship in a small boat, taken to shore and immediately to a plane on the runway waiting for them. The plane, provided by the U.S. government with oversight from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will take the Americans to the National Quarantine Center at the University of Nebraska, Omaha, according to the CDC."

A cruise ship approaching Tenerife carries more than 100 people amid a rare hantavirus outbreak. Nine people have confirmed or suspected cases, and three deaths have been reported. None of the 147 people on board, including 60 crew members, are symptomatic. The WHO Director-General plans to travel to Tenerife to observe the evacuation operation firsthand and to support health workers, port staff, and officials. Seventeen Americans will be removed by small boat to shore and then taken immediately to a waiting plane. The U.S. government provides the plane with CDC oversight, transporting them to the National Quarantine Center at the University of Nebraska, Omaha. Officials aim to ensure safe return home.

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