PARIS, (BM) – The French armed forces are alarmed by the increasing flow of information about the circumstances of the infection of more than a third of the entire crew of the country’s only aircraft carrier, Charles de Gaulle, with the Covid-19 coronavirus, learned BulgarianMilitary.com.
As we reported, two investigations are currently underway on a warship in order to find the perpetrators and prevent the recurrence of such massive “losses” in the Navy of the Fifth Republic.
About 700 of the 1,767 Charles de Gaulle sailors were infected, and this number is expected to increase in the near future. Twenty crew members are in the hospital, including one in intensive care.
The rapid spread of infection on the French aircraft carrier cruiser raised questions similar to those that arose after the outbreak of the disease on board the American aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, which led to the dismissal of the captain of this ship, who had previously demanded “decisive action from the US Navy command in his report” to curb the spread of the virus among personnel.
Several media outlets previously quoted crew members of Charles de Gaulle, who claimed that “tension had arisen on board the aircraft carrier because the disease had spread after the ship stopped last month in the port of French Brest on the Atlantic coast, but was then sent back In the sea.
Yesterday, April 17, representatives of the French Armed Forces denied the words of one of the crew member of the aircraft carrier, who, in an interview with France Bleu radio, said that the ship’s captain proposed to stop the mission in Brest, but the Ministry of Defense ordered the continuation of the “Charles de Gaulle” duty in the World Ocean.
After stopping in Brest and further staying at sea for several more weeks, the flagship of the French fleet returned to its place of registration – the Mediterranean port of Toulon.
Moreover, this happened two weeks earlier than planned. However, by that time on board the ship, 40 sailors had already shown signs of infection with Covid-19.
“I officially deny this information. This is not true,” said the representative of the French Navy, Eric Lavaux, commenting on reports that the military command rejected the offer of the captain of the aircraft carrier to complete sailing in Brest.
“The command took all precautions, and after stopping in Brest, the temperature of the sailors was checked twice a day, questionnaires were filled out to track the contacts of crew members. But this is not a cruise ship. This is a warship that wages war against the Islamic State” he said.
The Charles de Gaulle team, the crews of aircraft and helicopters based on it, as well as the personnel of the Chevalier Paul frigate accompanying the aircraft carrier are currently in quarantine in Toulon. The aircraft carrier carries out disinfection work.
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BulgarianMilitary.com
Editorial team