On April 10, around 50 people tested positive for Covid-19 on the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. Five days later, they were 668 carriers of the virus, more than a third of the workforce, announced Wednesday April 15 the Ministry of the Armed Forces. And the assessment is only provisional.

"As of April 14 in the evening, 1,767 sailors of the carrier strike group have been tested. The vast majority of these tests concern at this stage sailors of the aircraft carrier. 668 have been positive," the ministry said in a statement. Among them, "31 are now hospitalized at the Sainte-Anne army training hospital in Toulon (south), including one in intensive care," he said.

This temporary assessment is set to swell further because "30% of these tests have not yet delivered their results", and "the test campaign is still in progress", according to the ministry.

Early return to the port of Toulon

The vessel (1,750 sailors) and the air defense frigate that accompanied it (200 sailors) joined the port of Toulon on Sunday two weeks early, after the initial discovery of around fifty cases of coronavirus. The 1,900 sailors were immediately placed in medical isolation for 14 days before being able to return to their homes.

The Charles de Gaulle and the air defense frigate Chevalier Paul joined Toulon. The Somme supply vessel and the anti-submarine frigate La Motte-Picquet have arrived in Brest. The landing is underway, carried out in close coordination with @santearmees. pic.twitter.com/XgG4X0sShi

- French Navy (@MarineNationale) April 12, 2020

At the same time, "the disinfection operations of aircraft and surface buildings have started", carried out by the armies in association with industrialists, underlines the press release.

The origin of the contamination of the aircraft carrier is not yet known. The crew had not been in contact with an outside element since a stopover in Brest from March 13 to 15. The Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Christophe Prazuck, "ordered a command investigation in order to learn all the lessons from managing the epidemic within the carrier strike group," according to the ministry.

The Minister for the Armed Forces, Florence Parly, "sends a message of support to confined sailors and their families and thanks all the local elected representatives for their involvement", concludes the press release.

With AFP

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