To the folks of Tenerife,
My identify is Tedros, and I function the Director-Normal of the World Well being Group, the United Nations company answerable for world public well being. It’s not widespread for me to put in writing on to the folks of a single group, however as we speak I really feel it isn’t solely applicable, it’s vital.
I wish to communicate to you immediately, not by means of press releases or technical briefings, however as one human being to a different, since you deserve that.
I do know you might be fearful. I do know that once you hear the phrase “outbreak” and watch a ship sail towards your shores, recollections floor that none of us have totally put to relaxation. The ache of 2020 remains to be actual, and I don’t dismiss it for a single second.
However I would like you to listen to me clearly: this isn’t one other COVID. The present public well being danger from hantavirus stays low. My colleagues and I’ve mentioned this unequivocally, and I’ll say it once more to you now.
The virus aboard the MV Hondius is the Andes pressure of hantavirus. It’s severe. Three folks have misplaced their lives, and our hearts exit to their households. The danger to you, residing your each day life in Tenerife, is low. That is the WHO’s evaluation, and we don’t make it calmly.
Proper now, there are not any symptomatic passengers on board. A WHO professional is on that ship. Medical provides are in place. Spain’s authorities have ready a cautious, step-by-step plan: passengers will probably be ferried ashore on the industrial port of Granadilla, removed from residential areas, in sealed, guarded automobiles, by means of a totally cordoned-off hall, and repatriated on to their house international locations. You’ll not encounter them. Your households is not going to encounter them.
I additionally wish to say one thing else, one thing that goes past the science.
I personally thanked Prime Minister Sanchez for Spain’s choice to obtain this ship. I known as it an act of solidarity and ethical obligation. As a result of that’s what it’s. I need you to know that the WHO’s request to Spain was not made arbitrarily. It was made in full accordance with the Worldwide Well being Laws, the legally binding framework that defines the rights and obligations of nations and the WHO when responding to public well being occasions of worldwide concern. Below these guidelines, the closest port with adequate medical capability should be recognized to make sure the security and dignity of these on board. Tenerife met that normal. Spain honoured it. Almost 150 folks from 23 international locations have been at sea for weeks, a few of them grieving, all of them frightened, all of them eager for house. Tenerife has been chosen as a result of it has the medical capability, the infrastructure, and the humanity to assist them attain security.
And since I imagine that so deeply, I will probably be there myself. I intend to journey to Tenerife to watch this operation firsthand, to face alongside the well being staff, port workers, and officers who’re making it occur, and to personally pay my respects to an island that has responded to a tough scenario with grace, solidarity, and compassion. Your humanity deserves to be witnessed, not simply acknowledged from a distance.
As I’ve mentioned many instances: viruses don’t care about politics, and they don’t respect borders. The most effective immunity any of us has is solidarity.
Tenerife is demonstrating that solidarity as we speak. The ship’s captain, Jan Dobrogowski, crew and the corporate working the vessel have proven exemplary collaboration at this difficult time. On behalf of the World Well being Group, and on behalf of these passengers and their households all over the world, I thank the folks of Tenerife and everybody else concerned.
Please deal with yourselves and of one another. Belief within the preparations which have been made. And know that the WHO stands with you, and with each particular person on that ship, each step of the best way.
With respect, care, and gratitude,
Tedros
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
Director-Normal, World Well being Group
