Two patients with hantavirus and one suspected of being infected have been evacuated from the Hondius and are on the way to the Netherlands, the World Health Organization said, according to the Associated Press.

The three people evacuated were a 41-year-old Dutch national, a 56-year-old British national and a 65-year-old German national who were transferred to specialized hospitals in Europe, the Dutch foreign ministry said, reported the Associated Press.

The WHO said testing in Senegal confirmed that two of the evacuees were infected with hantavirus.

Two of the evacuees remain in serious condition, Oceanwide said.

The third had no symptoms but was closely associated with a German passenger who died onboard on May 2.

Associated Press footage showed health workers in protective gear heading to the ship for the evacuation that included the ship’s British doctor, who Spain’s health ministry said had been in serious condition but has improved.

Spain has granted permission for the Hondius to sail to the Canary Islands, the Spanish Health Ministry said on May 6, reversing an earlier rejection by the regional government.

All remaining passengers aboard the vessel are asymptomatic and non-Spanish citizens will be repatriated to their countries after the ship arrives in Tenerife, Spanish Health Minister Monica Garcia said, according to Reuters.

Spain’s Ministry of Health said in a statement that the World Health Organization had explained that Cape Verde was unable to receive the 147 crew and passengers.

“The Canary Islands are the closest location with the necessary capabilities,” the ministry said, according to Al Jazeera.

“Spain has a moral and legal obligation to assist these people, among whom are also several Spanish citizens.”

The ministry said it would receive a medical flight carrying the ship’s doctor, a Dutch national, who is gravely ill, following a formal request from the Dutch government.

The Hondius will journey to the Canary Islands once those who need evacuation are taken off the ship, the Spanish Health Ministry said.

Oceanwide announced that the journey will take three days of sailing and the vessel will dock in either Gran Canaria or Tenerife.

“This is not the next COVID, but it is a serious infectious disease,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s top epidemic expert, according to the Associated Press. “Most people will never be exposed to this.”

Two Argentine officials investigating the origins of the outbreak said the government’s leading hypothesis is that a Dutch couple contracted the virus while bird-watching in the city of Ushuaia before boarding.

The couple had visited a landfill during their tour and may have been exposed to rodents, the officials said.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media, with the investigation ongoing.

Authorities previously said Ushuaia and the surrounding Tierra del Fuego province had never recorded a hantavirus case, according to the Associated Press.

Health officials have said that other passengers and crew members are still on the ship and are without symptoms and isolating in their cabins.