Almost all French aircraft carrier sailors recover from virus: official

Almost all of the more than 1,000 sailors from France’s Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier who tested positive for the coronavirus have recovered and been discharged from hospital or quarantine, the military said on Monday.

“There are only two sailors left in hospital,” including one in intensive care and one under observation, said naval spokesman Eric Lavault.

Eighteen other sailors remain in quarantine.

This means that “98 percent of the positive cases from the naval group have recovered,” he added.

Nearly half — 1,081 — of the 2,300 sailors who were aboard the carrier and support craft when the coronavirus outbreak occurred at sea tested positive for the virus.

The Charles de Gaulle came home 10 days early from a deployment in the Atlantic last month after some crew members showed coronavirus symptoms.

The infection by the virus of half the personnel aboard France’s flagship navy vessel raised many eyebrows in the country, with questions focusing on how it got on board in the first place.

The military now believes that the virus spread to the ship during a stay in the port city of Brest in mid-March.

Two probes — one medical and one by the military — have been ordered to shed light on how it spread.