GRANADILLA DE ABONA, SPAIN – A last-minute change has been made to the evacuation plan for the final group of passengers stranded on a cruise ship rocked by a deadly hantavirus outbreak off Spain’s coast, the country’s top health official confirmed Sunday. Spain’s Health Minister Monica Garcia announced that all 22 remaining evacuees will depart for the Netherlands on a single chartered flight Monday, scrapping the original arrangement that would have split the group across two separate flights bound for different countries.
The adjustment came after Australian authorities notified Spanish officials that they could not ensure their chartered evacuation aircraft would reach the Canary Islands departure point on schedule. Under the revised plan, Australian citizens who were originally slated to travel on their country’s dedicated flight will now board the Netherlands-bound plane alongside other remaining passengers, Garcia confirmed.
The change comes amid ongoing public health protocols to contain the hantavirus outbreak that has already claimed lives on board the vessel, with officials working to speed up the repatriation of all remaining passengers while minimizing additional public health risks.