Sociedad

The protests in schools do not subside. This Tuesday marks the start of the first of 16 planned educational strikes in the public sector by the unions. Many are local, corresponding to educational territorial zones, but today’s, May 12, the one on the 27th of the same month, and the one on June 5 will be for all of Catalonia. In practice, each center can strike for five days in these remaining 40 days to finish the school year.

The United Kingdom Army has carried out an air operation to assist one of the passengers of the Hondius residing in Tristan da Cunha, a British territory in the South Atlantic with 221 inhabitants. The island lacks an airport and upon hearing that a passenger from the cruise with hantavirus was in the territory and showed symptoms compatible with the disease, the Army sprang into action.

In the midst of the debate about the use of AI, there are situations where it is undeniable that its applications and technology in general represent a step forward in quality of life. A clear example is people with visual disabilities, for whom apps or AI glasses allow a broader perception of the world: they serve to read food product labels or describe specific situations when the blind person is alone and needs help. That is why, from ONCE, which these days celebrates the Social Group Week, technology is claimed as a tool to move closer to equality.

The MV Hondius cruise ship is at the center of a hantavirus outbreak declared between April and May 2026. Of the 147 passengers on board, from 23 different nationalities, 9 cases have been reported —6 confirmed and 3 suspected—, 3 of them fatal. Among those affected are 14 Spaniards: 13 passengers and one crew member.

The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, addressed the population of Tenerife this Saturday to deliver a message of reassurance regarding the arrival of the cruise ship Hondius, affected by a hantavirus outbreak that has claimed three lives.

The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has published a letter addressed to the population of Tenerife in which he calls for calm regarding the arrival of the cruise ship MV Hondius, the vessel carrying nearly 150 passengers from 23 countries after several cases of hantavirus were reported on board, with three deaths. Tedros emphasizes that the public health risk to the island is low, that there are currently no passengers with symptoms, and details the strict measures planned for disembarkation: transfer in sealed vehicles from the Granadilla industrial port and direct repatriation to the countries of origin, without contact with the local population. The Director-General also defends Spain’s decision to host the ship as “an act of solidarity and moral duty” and announces that he will personally travel to the island to oversee the operation firsthand.

In just 24 hours, Spain faces a complex international operation from the island of Tenerife to evacuate with all health guarantees the occupants of the cruise ship MV Hondius, affected by a hantavirus outbreak and carrying 14 Spaniards who will be quarantined at the Gómez Ulla Hospital in Madrid.

A woman, considered the first contact in Catalonia of a fatal victim of the ‘Hondius’ hantavirus, will remain in quarantine at the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona for between three and six weeks. She is a resident of Barcelona who coincided for a few minutes, on April 25, on the plane covering the Johannesburg-Amsterdam route with the cruise passenger who ended up dying in the South African capital. She is around 40 years old, sources from the Departament de Salut told this newspaper.

Everything is ready to carry out the repatriation of the passengers of the cruise ship ‘Hondius’ to 23 countries from Tenerife. This was assured by the Ministers of Health, Mónica García, and Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who reported that the ship’s arrival will be between 4 and 6 a.m. tomorrow Sunday (Canary Islands time). The first to be repatriated will be the 14 Spaniards and the WHO representative in Africa, who will also undergo quarantine at the Gómez Ulla hospital in Madrid, as he is considered a contact.

The Spanish Minister of Health, Mónica García, and the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, hold a press conference before the arrival on the island of Tenerife of the cruise ship affected by the hantavirus.