Healthcare workers and passengers who disembarked from the virus-stricken ship have been spotted without proper PPE in Tenerife
Rachel Vickers-Price UK and World News Reporter and Olivia Bridge Reporter in Live News Network
08:52, 11 May 2026Updated 09:21, 11 May 2026
Passengers were caught flouting the rules
Both passengers and healthcare staff were caught without adequate protection after disembarking from the virus-stricken cruise liner, much to the Spanish island’s horror, according to reports.
Fears have been growing in the Canary Islands that Tenerife could become an epicentre of another pandemic-era type outbreak after it allowed the virus-hit MV Hondius to dock and disembark on the island.
Adding fuel to the fire, several passengers have allegedly already been spotted without properly fitting facemasks within hours of arriving. One passenger, reportedly from the Netherlands, was photographed waving to reporters from the back of a bus after pulling off his mask.
In another snap, another passenger from the vessel can be seen with a facemask dangling from his ear, despite everyone else in the area being fully kitted out in PPE, reports The Mirror.
It occurred within hours of arriving in the Canary Islands
According to local media, a Spanish healthcare worker from the state-deployed medical support team was spotted on Sunday stepping off one of the buses provided by the military’s emergency response unit, the Unidad Militar de Emergencias (UME), before stripping off his PPE in the middle of a public area.
As residents fear their region could become the epicentre of yet another pandemic-era catastrophe, World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was questioned by journalists over the relaxed approach to quarantine measures, reports the Express.
He appeared unmoved. He replied: “I saw that in the picture [of a maskless passenger] also,” he said. “[The mask] was hanging on his ears. You know, so many of these passengers are elderly, and you can imagine how uncomfortable could be – especially when you have FFP2 masks.”
Passengers being disembarked from the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship MV Hondius(Image: AP)
He stressed the importance of remembering that the majority of passengers who disembarked the vessel affected by the ray-transmitted illness are predominantly elderly and already face “many health challenges” that come with advancing years.
“Many of them are elderly and they have many other chronic conditions. There could be symptoms associated with those. So if there are symptoms, it doesn’t mean that it’s related to hantivirus.”
While the WHO officials did not appear particularly alarmed by the relaxed attitude some had towards wearing masks, social media users were far from satisfied.
One user commented: “Tell that to all the essential workers required to wear them for hours upon hours during Covid. Not an excuse.”
A second wrote: “Oh ok, but they forced [masks on us] during Covid. No matter what.” While a third noted: “[Wearing a mask is] not more uncomfortable than dying.”
Meanwhile, in the hours following disembarkation from the infected cruise ship at Tenerife, another passenger began exhibiting hantavirus symptoms while being repatriated to their home nation of France, the country’s prime minister confirmed.
The incident has sparked fears on the island(Image: AP)
Sébastien Lecornu revealed the French national developed symptoms aboard a chartered flight from Tenerife to Paris, and consequently all five evacuees from the MV Hondius had been “immediately placed in strict isolation until further notice”. The French nationals are amongst over 90 holidaymakers to be transported home from the Dutch vessel on Sunday, which dropped anchor off the Canary Islands before daybreak.
While official statements from the Spanish islands do confirm that health authorities are treating both quarantine and decontamination measures seriously, this has done little to ease concerns amongst residents that their homeland could become the focal point of another pandemic.
Healthcare worker David Hernández told the Independent he was consumed by worry upon learning that the MV Hondius would shortly arrive in Tenerife.
“I thought, ‘Why us?’ Everyone will be scared by the uncertainty of the situation. This is bringing back flashbacks of the Covid-19 pandemic. We had a terrible time in the hospital then,” the intensive care nurse, 29, told The Independent.
“I am human, and understand we all could have been on that cruise ship, but there must be some protocols.”
The prospect of another quarantine brought distressing memories from the 2020 pandemic flooding back, the-29-year-old said.
The Canary Islands became a hotspot for the spread of coronavirus in February 2020, after several infected guests checked into a Tenerife hotel. Those guests thrust more than 1,000 people into complete lockdown, making headlines across the globe.
The pandemic saw tourism come to a standstill; the island’s primary source of income. Hernández continued: “The population on the island has grown by about a million on the island since the pandemic, and we have the same 24 beds in the intensive care unit. I don’t think we can cope,” he said.
Retired teacher Francesca Borges said: “We think, ‘Why us again?’. During Covid lots of cruise ships were stranded here.”
Ms Borges, 65, added to the Independent: “There is a history of the Canary Islands having to take responsibility for a European problem. There is a sense that the Spanish government has always had this attitude that the Canary Islands is treated like a colony when it is in a situation like this.”