At 18:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 19, a C-130 “Hercules” of the Federal Army took off from Linz-Hörsching with the destination Pristina Airport in Kosovo.

An intensive care emergency team was also on board. The reason: A soldier who was seriously ill with Covid-19 had to be flown to Austria urgently for further treatment. The installation of a special container in the "Hercules" enables transport so that the patient can also be given intensive medical care in the air. The “Hercules” landed back in Linz Hörsching just before midnight. The patient was handed over to the rescue and is in a Linz hospital for further treatment.

"It's a good feeling to know that we are able to bring people home to Austria immediately who cannot receive adequate medical care during a deployment abroad. I would like to expressly thank everyone involved in the evacuation campaign for their commitment. I wish the sick soldier a speedy recovery,” said Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner. The army also has so-called "mobile quarantine bags" for transporting infectious patients. These are transport containers under negative pressure that allow patients to be transported in isolation while maintaining intensive medical care on the plane.