AFP, Madrid

A cruise ship hit by a hantavirus outbreak will dock “within three days” at Granadilla on the island of Tenerife, Spain’s health minister said Wednesday, despite opposition from the Canary Islands regional government.

“A joint system for health assessment and evacuation will be put in place to repatriate all passengers, unless their medical condition prevents it,” Health Minister Monica Garcia Gomez told a Madrid news conference.

The 14 Spanish nationals -- including one crew member -- on board the MV Hondius will be transferred to Madrid’s Gomez Ulla Military Hospital, she added.

García said the government was monitoring the international alert “minute by minute” to take all steps to prevent any potential spread of the virus.

Earlier, the head of the Canary Islands government, Fernando Clavijo, opposed any evacuation of patients onto the archipelago, citing a “total lack of information” from the central government.

But García said she had been in “constant contact” with Clavijo and he would take part in all meetings.

A source close to the Canary Islands presidency earlier told AFP that a medical evacuation flight planned to transfer a doctor from the ship to the archipelago had been cancelled, without giving a reason.

The director-general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, later said three suspected cases, including the doctor, had been evacuated from the vessel and were en route to the Netherlands for treatment.