Military aircraft began evacuating Covid-19 patients from French Guiana on Sunday in the latest sign that health services in the French overseas department are struggling to cope with a soaring number of coronavirus cases.

The patients were taken in a specially-equipped aircraft to other French territories in the Caribbean in order to ease the burden on French Guiana’s own hospitals.

“We absolutely must both strengthen the local health system, which we have done, but also very regularly allow patients to be evacuated outside of French Guiana,” said Clara De Bort, the director general of the territory’s health services.