Hantavirus live updates: Evacuations begin after MV Hondius arrives in Canary Islands

Passengers onboard the MV Hondius began disembarking in small groups on Sunday morning, heading for the shore in Tenerife, where they were expected to continue on to charter flights back to their home countries.

Spain's health minister, Monica Garcia, who was at the port in the Canary Islands on Sunday, said the remaining passengers were all thought to be asymptomatic.

"The entire operation is proceeding normally and I said the first to disembark will be the Spanish citizens, and then the flight to the Netherlands will depart," Garcia said prior to the passengers' beginning of their departures from the ship.

Flights were planned for passengers who were headed to Canada, Turkey, France, Great Britain, Ireland and the United States, she said.

"The Netherlands will send two planes: today's plane and another one tomorrow, which we'll call a 'sweeper plane,' to pick up any passengers not picked up by the other countries," she said. "But in principle, well, throughout today and tomorrow, all the planes of all nationalities will be disembarked and taken back to their respective countries."

-ABC News' Rashid Haddou and Maggie Rulli

The MV Hondius arrived early on Sunday off the coast of Tenerife, dropping anchor near the industrial port of Granadilla at about 5:30 a.m. local time.

Evacuations from the ship were expected to begin as soon as possible.

The local government in the Canary Islands, the Spanish archipelago off the northwestern African coast, said it would like everyone off the boat and out of the Canary Islands by today.

They also said they want the boat to depart by the end of the day.

-ABC News' Magie Rulli, Dragana Jovanovic and Aicha El Hammar Castano

WHO Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus visited Saturday the port in Tenerife that is slated to receive the cruise ship and assured local residents the risk to the local population is low and that Tenerife is prepared.

The WHO director appeared at a short press briefing alongside Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia and other Spanish authorities.

The WHO director said the risk to the local population is low because of the nature of the disease and because the Spanish government has made preparations. But he added concern is legitimate because of the trauma of COVID and decided to go to Tenerife to "be on the side of the people."

Following the disembarkation of passengers, it is expected there will be six repatriation flights to elsewhere in the European Union and four non-EU flights.

Spanish passengers are set to be the first to disembark, according to the Spanish health minister, who said the passengers will be flown to Madrid to quarantine at the city's Gomez-Ulla military hospital.

The minister said no one on board the ship has any symptoms.

A CDC official said Saturday the federal government doesn't plan to have the repatriated American cruise ship passengers quarantine upon arrival in Nebraska.

"We are not quarantining anybody," a CDC official told reporters on a call Saturday.

As of Saturday none of the 17 Americans aboard the cruise have tested positive for the hantavirus, according to CDC officials.

When asked if passengers will be tested, a CDC official said, "it is not recommended to test people that do not have symptoms."

Federal officials walked through their plan for the passengers.

Each passenger is set to be evaluated upon arrival in the U.S., and they may opt to go home and watch for any potential symptoms for 42 days while staying in touch with their state or local health departments, the officials said.

Officials may recommend that passengers doing home-based monitoring limit their activities outside the house to those that don't involve extensive interactions with other people.

While the National Quarantine Unit in Nebraska will be available to them, there are no plans to mandate quarantine, according to officials. The officials said they hope the passengers will be in Nebraska for a limited amount of time.

-ABC News' Youri Benadjaoud