Army parachutes medical team onto British territory as hantavirus fears soar | World | News
Six paratroopers from 16th Air Assault Brigade, an RAF advisor and an Army nurse parachuted (Image: PA)
As fears of the deadly hantavirus grow, a specialist Army team and medical personnel have parachuted into the British overseas territory of Tristan da Cunha with medical aid and equipment.
The UK Health Safety Agency confirmed on Friday that a British citizen had landed on the island where they live with a suspected case of hantavirus from the virus-infected cruise ship MV Hondius. Six paratroopers from 16th Air Assault Brigade, an RAF advisor and an Army nurse parachuted while oxygen supplies and medical aid were dropped off on the remote island, normally only accessible by boat. RAF A400M transport aircraft flew from RAF Brize Norton to Ascension Island with support from an RAF Voyager before heading to Tristan da Cunha. The Ministry of Defense said it was the first time medical personnel had been parachuted in to provide humanitarian support. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the security of “all members of the British family” was the top priority.
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READ MORE: WHO reassures Tenerife as hantavirus cruise ship MV Hondius approaches
The MV Hondius cruise ship arrived in Tenerife on Sunday morning (Image: ANP/Shutterstock)
MV Hondius arrived in Tenerife on Sunday morning and British passengers will be repatriated to be isolated in the hospital used as the UK’s first Covid quarantine site, with the UKHSA saying the risk to the public “remains very low”.
The passengers will be transferred to an isolation facility at Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral, Merseyside, after being flown back to England on a chartered flight, the UKHSA said.
UKHSA and Foreign Office officials were due to greet the MV Hondius when it docked in Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands, with Britons tested for hantavirus before disembarking.
If people test negative and are asymptomatic, they will be taken directly to a scheduled repatriation flight staffed by medical professionals and equipped with personal protective equipment such as face masks.
Upon returning to the UK, passengers will be placed in a block of accommodation in the Arrowe Park area, away from public areas of the hospital, to undergo clinical assessments and testing as a precautionary measure.
The hospital was used to house British citizens returning from Wuhan, China, in January 2020 at the beginning of the Covid outbreak.
Civil Guard border police stand guard after the arrival of the cruise ship infected with hantavirus (Image: AP)
The World Health Organization said on Saturday that there were no symptomatic passengers on the ship.
There have been six confirmed cases of hantavirus linked to MV Hondius, and four patients are currently in hospital, the UN health agency said.
It added that a total of eight cases, including three deaths, had been reported, and a previous suspected case was reclassified after testing negative for hantavirus.
The UKHSA said the eight cases involved three British nationals; Two are confirmed to have hantavirus, while the other is suspected.
The two confirmed British cases were being treated in hospitals in South Africa and the Netherlands, while the third British national, Tristan da Cunha, was being supported by health services on the remote South Atlantic island.
Professor Robin May, UKHSA’s chief scientific officer, said: “We continue to work at pace with our international partners to ensure the safe repatriation of British nationals from the MV Hondius.
“The safety and well-being of those on board remains our number one priority. Established infection control measures will be implemented at every step of the journey and passengers will receive full support throughout the entire process, including isolation periods.”
Materials are being transported to the ship MV Hondius in the port of Granadilla (Image: ANP/Shutterstock)
Janelle Holmes, chief executive of Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said in a letter to staff: “We were asked to accommodate guests by NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) in recognition of how quickly and positively we responded to and supported the repatriation of British nationals from Wuhan and the Diamond Princess prior to the Covid-19 outbreak.
“We will welcome our guests on Sunday, May 10, 2026, and they will all be screened for symptoms before arriving on site; anyone showing any symptoms will not be transferred here.
“If anyone becomes ill after arrival, they will be quickly transferred to another facility.”
Emergency services in north-west England said they expected passengers to be kept in a “managed environment” for up to 72 hours.
Public health experts will then evaluate whether they can isolate at home or another appropriate location based on their living arrangements.
Britons returning to the UK will self-isolate for 45 days and will not be allowed to travel home by public transport.
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