Three Chinese provinces activate emergency responses ahead of Typhoon Ragasa

The approach of Typhoon Ragasa has prompted emergency response measures in south China's Guangdong and Hainan Provinces, as well as in east China's Fujian Province.

Ragasa -- the 18th named storm of the 2025 Pacific typhoon season -- intensified into a super typhoon on Sunday and is forecast to make landfall between Huizhou in Guangdong and Wenchang in Hainan on Wednesday.

Impacted by the storm, the northeastern area of the South China Sea and the coastal areas of southern China will be battered by strong winds and heavy rains from Tuesday through Friday.

Wide areas of Guangdong, coast land of Fujian and Hainan can expect torrential downpours, with some locations likely to see severe or extremely severe rainstorms.

Maritime departments in Guangdong, Hainan and Fujian have taken precautions to ensure safety.

The maritime authorities in Guangdong raised its emergency response to Level-I, the highest level in China's four-tier warning system, at 14:00 Monday.

Local maritime patrol officers in Guangdong conducted inspection on docks, shipyards and anchorage grounds on Monday morning.

More than 10,000 ships have been transferred to safe waters for shelter. Later, the authorities will continue tracking the path of Typhoon Ragasa, and the dynamic conditions on the sea.

Fujian maritime department has activated a Level-II emergency response, with its focus on the waters off Zhangzhou, Xiamen, Quanzhou and Putian. Ships in other nearby waters should also take shelter in a coordinated way.

A Level-II emergency response was also activated by Hainan. The ro-ro passenger ships across Qiongzhou Strait will be suspended since Tuesday afternoon, with 46 of them heading to the waters off Sanya to shelter from the typhoon. Meanwhile, more than 2,000 warnings have been issued via multiple channels in high frequency.

Three Chinese provinces activate emergency responses ahead of Typhoon Ragasa

Spanish health authorities on Friday identified a second monitored contact linked to the hantavirus outbreak on cruise ship MV Hondius after tracing a woman living in Catalonia who had shared a flight with a Dutch traveler died from the virus.

Spain's Center for Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies said the woman is asymptomatic and was initially missed during contact tracing because of a seat change on the aircraft.

According to health authorities, the woman now meets the criteria for monitored contact under a newly approved national surveillance protocol and will remain under medical observation.

This came after the suspected case of hantavirus detected in Alicante. Spanish Secretary of State for Health Javier Padilla said on Friday that the health authorities had taken relevant measures.

In addition, Padilla confirmed that all 14 Spanish passengers aboard the MV Hondius had agreed to undergo voluntary quarantine measures in order to minimize the risk of further transmission.

The Dutch-operated expedition cruise ship, currently heading toward Spain's Canary Islands, has so far been linked to three deaths.

Padilla said a team from the Spanish Health Ministry would travel to Tenerife on Saturday ahead of the ship's expected arrival on Sunday.

Passengers are expected to disembark by small boats before being transferred under strict isolation measures. Spanish citizens aboard the vessel will be transported to Madrid for quarantine observation.

The British Health Security Agency announced Friday that a suspected hantavirus case has been detected on the South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, linked to the ongoing outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship.

The vessel stopped at Tristan da Cunha between April 13 and 15.

Spain identifies second suspected hantavirus case linked to cruise ship outbreak