A boat carrying doctors heads toward the MV Hondius, off the coast of Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, May 6, 2026. - / AFP
It has now been almost a week since the health risks surrounding the hantavirus – the virus identified onboard the MV Hondius that has claimed three lives among the passengers – have become the focus of intense attention. With the expected repatriation in the coming days of the five French cruise passengers still on board, and the identification of eight other French contacts who traveled on a plane with an infected person, the main challenge is now their care in France, and more generally, their isolation, testing and hospitalization. With the cruise ship due to arrive in the Canary Islands on Sunday, May 10, the French Health Ministry and frontline professionals involved in crisis management are preparing.
At this stage, the plan is for a "single point of entry into the country, where health authorities will take over" at an airport in the Paris region "currently being determined," according to the Health Ministry. On the evening of May 7, officials also specified that the five French nationals were "being monitored" and were "in good health."
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