(CMR) Yesterday a UK military assistance team arrived in the Cayman Islands on board the British Airways airbridge flight. The team consists of 11 military personnel and one senior police adviser.
The team has been deployed to assist the Cayman Islands Government with planning and responding to the current COVID-19 crisis. With meteorological predictions for this year’s hurricane season being for above-average activity, the team will also be working with HMCI to plan for a hurricane response in the midst of the current pandemic.
The team will also provide a link to UK naval and air assets in the Caribbean to help coordinate operations. RFA Argus is due to be off the Cayman Islands next week and the ship’s helicopters will carry out training exercises and joint planning with the RCIPS Air Operations Unit. RFA Argus is the replacement ship for RFA Mounts Bay which for the past three years carried out hurricane relief exercises on Seven Mile Beach and supported the region after a number of hurricanes hit including Maria, Irma and Dorian.
The Cayman military team is a specialist unit and will not carry out patrols whilst in the Cayman Islands. Team members come from a variety of units across UK Defence including Army Commandos, the Royal Logistics Corps, the Defence Academy and Royal Navy Police. The skills they bring include medical planning, logistics and security planning. The team also comes with a doctor and a medical planner. The civilian member of the team is a senior police adviser from the UK who has worked around the world and was formerly an Assistance Chief Constable in the UK Police.
An early tasking will be to provide further support to the Governor’s Office and HSA to ensure that Cayman’s vital medical supply chains are robust. They will also be advising on the formation of the Cayman Regiment.
The team went straight in to quarantine following their arrival at Owen Roberts International Airport yesterday (Tuesday). They will remain in quarantine for the next 14 days before being tested for COVID-19. During the period of quarantine, the team will be working remotely from their accommodation and have already held initial planning meetings by video conference with the Governor’s Office and the Cayman Islands Regiment.
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid