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The Canadian plane has left and is set to land first at the Saguenay-Bagotville Airport in Quebec, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware. It's unclear whether that is the plane's last stop and what passengers will do once it lands at its final destination. The Associated Press released a photo showing Canadian passengers being screened by health workers as they board an aircraft.

According to Javier Padilla, Spain's health secretary, Canada has sent a plane to repatriate the four Canadian passengers who are currently disembarking the MV Hondius. 

Once they reach the shore they will be assessed for about 10 minutes. Police will check their passports and then they will be driven straight to the plane.

The WHO responded to our request for information saying, "that is [a] question for Spanish and Canadian authorities."

Spanish Health Minister Mónica García said a plane carrying Spanish passengers has left and is heading to Madrid, where they will be evaluated at a hospital.

Passengers of the MV Hondius from France, Canada, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Turkey, Ireland and the United States will soon be able to leave the ship, Garcia said. 

We still haven't heard from Canadian officials on whether Canada is chartering a plane for its four passengers still on the ship.

WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerhove said at a news conference Saturday that Canada and the U.S. Were considering sharing a plane, but neither country has confirmed whether that will happen. 

Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, said if that were to happen, it would be "an example of countries collaborating for efficiency."

As boats started to ferry the Spanish passengers back to shore, the media were moved further back while officials wearing protective suits tightened their hoods and put their masks up. 

In a parking lot across from the media, we can see what appears to be the first group of passengers along with doctors. Everyone is wearing protective equipment. Tents are set up and there are two red buses, which we expect will transport the passengers to the airport.  

Reuters

A first group of passengers, all Spanish ‌nationals, has begun to disembark ​into a small boat ​from the cruise ship, ⁠Spain's Health Ministry said.

They will be ‌transported directly from the port in military buses to ​the airport. A Spanish government plane ⁠will then fly them to ⁠Madrid, ​where they will be quarantined, officials have said.

What COVID-19 taught us about containing the hantavirus outbreak

As a hantavirus-hit cruise ship prepares to anchor off Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands, Dr. Lynora Saxinger, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Alberta, details how this outbreak differs from the COVID-19 pandemic and how lessons from the latter can be applied here.

While the hantavirus outbreak is unlikely to ripple out into another pandemic, COVID-19 did teach governments and health officials how to better contain outbreaks like this, said Dr. Lynora Saxinger, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Alberta.

"So there's a lot of models of co-operation that I think we've strengthened during that process and hopefully in a lot of places … there's better public health infrastructure to deal with such things."

Saxinger said officials seem to be taking a high degree of caution given there have only been a handful of confirmed cases thus far.

"But that is because there's a lesson learned here about the potential severity of something, even if it's a low risk," she said.

Mónica García, Spain’s minister of health, just gave an update here and said everybody on board remains asymptomatic.

"Despite all the opposition, we have to state that the anchoring and arrival of the ship took place with total normality," she said.

Health checks are being done on board now by representatives from Spain, the Netherlands and the WHO.

The Spanish passengers will be the first to depart the ship. They will be put in a bus and taken to the airport. After that, a group destined for the Netherlands will be allowed off the vessel. That includes not only Dutch nationals but also passengers from Belgium, Germany and Greece along with some crew members.

Garcia said other passengers departing today include the 19 Brits, 17 Americans and four Canadians on board. The passengers returning to Australia and New Zealand will not be departing until tomorrow. The Netherlands is also sending a second plane on Monday that will act as a "sweep" flight to pick up any of the remaining passengers.

Reuters

Spain has begun the evacuation process of passengers from the hantavirus-hit cruise ship anchored near Tenerife.

Health officials boarded the ship to conduct a final check before beginning to disembark passengers, Spain's Health Ministry said. The first group of passengers, who are Spanish nationals, will be taken to shore on small boats and immediately transferred into sealed buses to the local airport. From there, they will fly to Madrid on a Spanish government plane, officials said, emphasizing they will have no contact with members of the public.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) is at the port as officials co-ordinate the next steps of the passengers.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reiterated in a social media post on X that the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship that has arrived at the Spanish island won't put its residents in danger.

"Hantavirus is not COVID, and the risk to the people of Tenerife is low because of the nature of the disease and the actions of the Spanish government," he said. 

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