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UK Paratroopers and Medics Airdropped to Remote Tristan da Cunha After Suspected Hantavirus Case
Six paratroopers and medical personnel from 16 Air Assault Brigade jumped onto the remote South Atlantic island after a British national from the hantavirus-hit MV Hondius fell ill. The UK military delivered 3.3 tonnes of medical supplies and oxygen as the island's stocks reached critical levels. France reported its first hantavirus case the same week.
May 10, 11:02 AM·3m read4 sources
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British paratroopers parachuted onto Tristan da Cunha along with medics and medical supplies after a suspected hantavirus case on the remote island. Six paratroopers, a Royal Air Force consultant and an army nurse from 16 Air Assault Brigade jumped from an RAF A400M aircraft dispatched about 5km over the South Atlantic Ocean.
Two of the paratroopers jumped in tandem with an intensive care nurse and intensive care doctor.
The team landed on what Brig Ed Cartwright described as a golf course covered in rocks. Average wind speeds over Tristan da Cunha are often over 25mph, and the parachutists faced a really challenging, technical jump due to high winds and the island being small.
They had to turn straight into wind to avoid being pushed past the island and into the Atlantic before descending through cloud to the drop zone.
Brig Ed Cartwright said there was 7,000 miles and about 56 hours between help being requested and having parachutists and medical stores on the ground. Oxygen was dropped from an RAF A400M on Saturday because supplies were at a critical level on the island. 3 tonnes of medical supplies were delivered for the hospital on Tristan da Cunha.
An RAF A400M transport aircraft flew from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire to Ascension Island, supported by an RAF Voyager, before heading to Tristan da Cunha. The UK Health Security Agency confirmed on Friday that a British national had disembarked from the cruise ship MV Hondius to Tristan da Cunha with a suspected case of hantavirus.
He reported having diarrhoea on 28 April and fever two days later. The British national on Tristan da Cunha is in stable condition and isolating. The World Health Organization has confirmed six confirmed cases and two suspected cases of hantavirus, including the British man on Tristan da Cunha.
