World Health Organization (WHO) head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Saturday assured the people of the Spanish island of Tenerife that the risk from the hantavirus was low, as a ship on which an outbreak occurred headed towards them.
The outbreak was not comparable to the coronavirus pandemic, Tedros said.
He said he was aware that people were worried. "The pain of 2020 is still real, and I do not dismiss it for a single moment. But I need you to hear me clearly: this is not another COVID. The current public health risk from hantavirus remains low," he said.
Tedros also noted that there were currently no passengers with symptoms aboard the Hondius, the cruise ship on which the outbreak occurred.
The Hondius is expected to arrive off the port of Granadilla in southern Tenerife on Sunday morning between 4 am and 6 am (0300-0500 GMT), with passengers disembarking in stages from dawn.
Tedros said the passengers would be transported to Granadilla's industrial port and then moved in sealed and monitored vehicles before being flown to their home countries.
"You will not encounter them. Your families will not encounter them," he said in an official statement issued in Madrid.
"Tenerife has been chosen because it has the medical capacity, the infrastructure, and the humanity to help them reach safety. And because I believe that so deeply, I will be there myself," he added.
