The director of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, addressed the population of Tenerife this Saturday to send a message of reassurance ahead of the arrival of the cruise ship Hondius, affected by a hantavirus outbreak that has claimed three lives.
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In an unusual WHO message, as it is addressed exclusively to the Canary Island, and released on social media, Adhanom speaks to the citizens of Tenerife, “from human to human,” to tell them directly that “this is not another Covid-19” and that, although hantavirus is “serious,” the risk of contagion is “low.” “This is the WHO’s assessment and we do not take it lightly,” says Adhanom, who makes it clear that there will be no contact between the islanders and their families with the cruise passengers.
The WHO director, who will be in Tenerife on Sunday along with the Minister of Health, Mónica García, the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, and the Minister of Territorial Policy, the Canarian Ángel Víctor Torres, overseeing the disembarkation and repatriation operation of the Hondius passengers, considers it “necessary” to send this message amid the uncertainty and fear that the arrival of the cruise has caused among the Canarians.
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For days it has been the topic of conversation in the island’s bars and shops, especially in the town of El Médano, which is the main coastal center of the municipality of Granadilla and the closest population to the port where the Hondius will arrive. Opinions there are diverse but, if there is any consensus, it is in criticizing the lack of information which has led to fear. For many, what they are experiencing these days has many similarities to what happened in 2020 with covid.
“A long time ago we lived through a similar situation and no one guarantees that the same thing won’t happen again,” said Camila yesterday, a sales assistant at Picacho Surfshop in El Médano. This Italian woman, who has lived on the island for years and works in this shop, admits there is fear “of what might happen.” “People are dying and this is an island; if contagion occurs it can spread,” says Camila, who points out that her father is very worried about the situation: “He told me to try not to talk to people I don’t know, but I work in a shop,” she reflects.
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For days it has been the topic of conversation in the island’s bars and shops, especially in the town of El Médano
That same Saturday, several hours after the WHO director had issued the letter asking the people of Tenerife to remain calm, none of those consulted by this newspaper were aware of it. “We won’t be able to do anything. The ship is going to arrive; all that remains is to trust that the people behind it know what they are doing and act properly,” said the sales assistant at La Tienda de Mar in El Médano, who prefers not to give her name. She also admits that information has been lacking these days and that the little there was “was confusing.”
A resident of the municipality, Mari, admits she is afraid of the ship’s arrival but warns that one must put oneself in the place of the people on the cruise and their families. “It’s scary but we have to be supportive. If I were on that ship I would like to be helped,” she says.
Precisely that humanity appealed to by this resident of El Médano and which the Canarians have demonstrated over the years with the arrival of small boats and migrants was praised yesterday by the WHO director in his letter. “I intend to travel to Tenerife (…) to pay my personal tribute to an island that has responded to a difficult situation with dignity, solidarity, and compassion. Its humanity deserves to be witnessed, not just recognized from a distance,” Adhanom noted.
Read more The WHO director reassures the people of Tenerife: “This is not another Covid!”
