Following the coronavirus contamination of 668 sailors from the crew of the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, the spokesperson for the French Navy and captain, Éric Lavault, was the guest of Europe 1, Thursday evening. He stated that the captain had taken all measures to preserve the health of the crew.

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"The barrier gestures have been put in place on the aircraft carrier as everywhere in France, nevertheless it is not a hospital ship, nor a cruise ship: it is a combat, war building ", said Éric Lavault. Spokesman for the French Navy, he was the guest of Europe 1, Thursday evening, following the contamination by the coronavirus of more than a third of the sailors of the crew of the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. "The commander has taken all measures to preserve the health of his crew," he said.

A few hundred sailors went out on leave to Brest

According to Éric Lavault, first of all, "place the context of the stopover in the era". He explains that during the stopover of the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, from March 13 to 16, containment measures were not yet in place. These were announced on March 16 in the evening, for implementation on March 17, at noon.

"This stopover was part of the day of the families of the aircraft carrier crew," said the spokesman, referring to an emblematic event in the French Navy. "In light of the elements, the commander made the decision to cancel this family trip which should have allowed several hundred families of sailors to board the aircraft carrier for one day," explains Éric Lavault, who adds on the other hand that the commander "maintained the landing on leave of the sailors of the aircraft carrier".

A few hundred sailors were then able to go out on leave to Brest (Finistère), although the maritime commander of Brest had "prohibited certain areas which already represented clusters in Brittany, in particular in Morbihan".

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