Army parachutes team on to Tristan da Cunha to support British national with suspected hantavirus
After a British citizen showed symptoms of hantavirus, a specialist team of army and medical personnel was parachuted to the British overseas territory of Tristan da Cunha with medical aid and equipment.
The United Kingdom Health Safety Agency (UKHSA) confirmed that the patient was on board the MV Hondius cruise ship, where three people lost their lives due to the virus outbreak.
Stephen Doughty, the British minister responsible for overseas territories, said in a statement that they are currently in hospital on the island where they live.
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) confirmed on Sunday that six paratroopers, an RAF advisor and an Army nurse from 16 Air Assault Brigade parachuted onto the island to provide support in the first operation of its kind.
Oxygen supplies and medical aid were also dropped off on the remote island, which is 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 safety of “all members of the British family” was the top priority.
He said: “We will continue to work closely with international authorities and Tristan da Cunha management, keeping those affected informed and ensuring the right support is provided in the UK and Overseas Territories.”
Tristan da Cunha is a group of remote volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is Britain’s most remote inhabited area, accessible only by boat, has no airstrip and has a population of 221.
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.
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.
