World
British paratroopers airdrop medics to remote island over hantavirus case
Emergency mission delivers supplies to Tristan da Cunha
Movers stand at the edge of the ramp waiting to be above the drop zone to dispatch one of the pallets of medical supplies to provide medical support to people, after the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed one suspected case of Hantavirus of a British national on Tristan da Cunha. Reuters
Madrid: British paratroopers have been deployed to Tristan da Cunha, Britain’s most remote overseas territory, along with medics and medical supplies after a suspected case of hantavirus was confirmed there.
A team of six paratroopers and two military clinicians from 16 Air Assault Brigade jumped from an RAF A400M transport aircraft, which travelled 6,788 km from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire to Ascension Island, before continuing another 3,000 km south to Tristan da Cunha.
Oxygen supplies and other medical aid were dropped alongside them on Saturday. The aircraft was refuelled mid-flight by a supporting RAF Voyager.
The UK Ministry of Defence said the operation marks the first time medical personnel have been deployed via parachute jump for humanitarian support.
The supplies were primarily intended for a British man who had been a passenger on a cruise ship affected by a hantavirus outbreak and which docked at the island between April 13 and 15. The World Health Organization said the man reported symptoms on April 28 and is currently stable and in isolation.
“With oxygen supplies on the island at a critical level, an airdrop with medical personnel was the only method of getting vital care to the patient in time,” the Ministry of Defence said.
Tristan da Cunha, home to around 200 people, lies halfway between South Africa and South America and is regarded as the world’s most remote inhabited island. It has no airstrip and typically relies on a small medical team, with access usually limited to boat travel.
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests were earlier delivered by military aircraft to Ascension Island on May 7, where another cruise ship passenger had disembarked before being medically evacuated to South Africa.
“The arrival of paratroopers, medical personnel and medical supplies from the sky has hopefully reassured the people of Tristan da Cunha,” said Brigadier Ed Cartwright, Officer Commanding 16 Air Assault Brigade.