Spain's minister of health confirms they have legal resources to impose quarantine

Spanish Minister of Health Mónica García has stated that her department has "legal tools to protect public health", including the possibility of imposing quarantines on passengers disembarking in the Canary Islands from the hantavirus cruise ship.

García has not confirmed whether isolation would be mandatory. She said that they will make all decisions following health and safety criteria.

"When they arrive in Madrid, we will conduct an assessment and ask for their consent to carry out these evaluations, day by day, with international experts, for the duration of that quarantine," the minister said.

García also confirmed that the medical plane carrying two people with hantavirus, which had to stop in the Canary Islands on its way to the Netherlands due to a breakdown, resumed its journey to Amsterdam early on Thursday morning.

Marrakech was the initial destination for refuelling the plane from Praia (Cape Verde) to Amsterdam. Due to Morocco's refusal, however, the plane had to go to Gran Canaria Airport to carry out said refuelling.

Once on the ground, the flight doctor reported a failure in the electrical system of a patient's isolation chamber, which delayed their departure to the Netherlands.

On Wednesday night, the Ministry of Health banned the takeoff of the plane after confirming that the batteries the regional government had provided did not have sufficient autonomy to sustain the patient's medical support until reaching the Netherlands, which would have required another stopover in Spain.

The Health Ministry said that the plane crew "will have to wait" for "the new transport plane to arrive".

That same plane later departed, without passengers or patients on board, and made a technical stop at Valencia's Manises Airport to refuel before continuing on to Istanbul, which will be its final destination.

The plane departed from Valencia at 8.34am on Thursday, according to Aena airport operator sources. The aircraft spent less than an hour in Valencia before departing for Turkey.

The two patients with hantavirus were transferred to another medical plane, which finally resumed its journey to the Netherlands from the Canary Islands at about 3am.

The Ministry of Health stated that the operation was carried out "following the established health and safety protocols, in coordination with the competent authorities and the company responsible for the transfer".

So far, the hantavirus outbreak on the aforementioned cruise ship has caused three deaths.

Mónica García and Minister of Territorial Policy Víctor Angel Torres held a meeting with president of the Canary Islands regional government Fernando Clavijo on Thursday to discuss management of the health alert.