The operator of the cruise ship at the center of a hantavirus outbreak told The Associated Press on Wednesday it expects to know by the end of the week if the vessel will keep to its schedule for the coming months, as it previously indicated it would.The Dutch-flagged MV Hondius is listed on Oceanwide Expeditions’ website as scheduled to depart on a cruise later in May that would take it to the Arctic. Three of the ship’s passengers died in an outbreak that was first confirmed earlier this month while the vessel was in the Atlantic.In all, there have been nine confirmed and two suspected cases in the outbreak.More than 120 people — all passengers and some of the crew — were evacuated from the Hondius in Spain’s Canary Islands on Sunday and Monday and are in isolation in several countries.Asked on Monday whether it would amend its cruising schedule due to the outbreak, Oceanwide Expeditions said it did not “foresee changes to our operations” — which included a new cruise beginning May 29 from Keflavik, Iceland.
But on Wednesday, the company told AP it expected “clarity on whether the vessel will sail and the sailing schedule by the end of this week.”
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