A HUGE group of port workers have marched on a parliament building in Tenerife furious at plans to let rat virus cruise ship the MV Hondius approach the island.
Terrified locals said they had “no way to stop” hantavirus if it hit the Canary Islands as .
Tenerife protests erupt as rat virus cruise ship closes in Credit: The Sun
Furious locals fear another pandemic as the rat virus cruise ship approches Credit: The Sun
It comes as…
- A third British case is suspected on a remote island
- Rat virus cruise passenger
- The hunt is on for
- Brit crew member
- Two Brits passengers
- Investigators think the virus was
It comes as a the first suspected case of the virus was revealed in , with a woman in Alicante reporting symptoms.
The suspected case involves a woman who was onboard the same flight as the Dutch woman who died of the virus in Johannesburg.
It brings the total of suspected cases to 11,
Furious Tenerife locals loudly blew whistles and air horns today, holding up signs accusing authorities of putting them at risk.
They chanted: “We want work, not illness.”
The hantavirus-infected MV Hondius is currently steaming towards the Canaries despite fierce local opposition, after the central Spanish government said it had a “moral and legal obligation” to help those onboard.
Luz Padilla, 61, whose friends and family work at the port, said she is terrified for their and another , calling the local health system “the worst in Spain”.
She told The Sun: “The government isn’t giving safety for the workers in the harbour.
Dockers hold banners reading ‘Without protocol, no safety’ as they protest against the arrival of a cruise ship Credit: AFP
Tenerife protests erupt as rat virus cruise ship closes in Credit: The Sun
“We’re worried. We don’t have good hospital.
“We’ve no way to stop another Covid.”
Port worker Jonathan Rodriguez, 31, told The Sun: “We are angry. I’m not sure that Tenerife is the right option or the decision to bring it to Tenerife is the right one.
“We don’t think the safety of the personnel is being taken into consideration.
He said the decision to bring MV Hondius to the Canaries seemed rushed, adding: “We are not sure that the right protocols are being followed.”
The is due to arrive in Granadilla, Tenerife on Sunday.
After local workers threatened to blockade the port, the ship won’t dock, but will anchor nearby passengers will be evacuated using small boats.
Covid-style command posts set up at the Granadilla port Credit: EPA
Rodriguez said: “We want this vessel to be handled carefully.
“We are not sure that all the conditions are there for [another Covid situation] to not happen again.”
It comes as another Brit was struck down with the suspected killer rat bug yesterday as the doomed cruise ship at the centre of the outbreak headed towards Tenerife.
The sick patient lives on Tristan da Cunha and was brought ashore by the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius on the island of St Helena last month.
He is separate to the seven Brit tourists who also got off the luxury liner on the remote South Atlantic island at the same time.
Two of the seven are self-isolating back in the UK while four more remain on St Helena.
The seventh, a dual national, has since been traced outside the UK.
Another two Brits – tour guide Martin Anstee, 56, and an unnamed 69-year-old man – are being treated in separate hospitals for the deadly virus.
And The Sun revealed that a passenger from the infected MV Hondius
It was part of a visit from the rat virus ship to on April 11 that risked crew and passengers carrying the deadly disease to the tiny territory.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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