90-Second Read: WHO director arrives in Canary Islands to oversee Hantavirus cruise evacuation: "This disease is not COVID"

More than 100 people from a cruise ship dealing with an outbreak of the rare and deadly Hantavirus are set to be disembarked. Addressing the people of the Canary Islands, where the ship will anchor off the coast of its largest island, the WHO chief said the public's concern is legitimate after what the world experienced in 2020 during the global coronavirus pandemic. Eight people on the ship had confirmed or suspected cases of the Hantavirus and three people have died, the WHO said on Friday.

Tedros estimated Saturday that there will be six evacuation flights headed for the EU and four for non-EU countries. Each country with passengers on board the ship will proceed with a similar evacuation to awaiting planes, according to the Spanish Health Ministry. The WHO said it was recommending each country keep the passengers removed from the ship in isolation for 42 days from the last point of exposure to the virus.

The outbreak on the ship appears to have started with a Dutch couple who traveled around South America, the only place the Andes strain exists, in the months leading up to the cruise. The couple spent time bird-watching in areas where rodents are known to have tested positive for Hantavirus, according to Oceanwide Expeditions. None of the 147 people currently on board, including 60 crew members, are symptomatic, according to Oceanwide Expeditions, which owns the vessel.