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France Finds 668 Coronavirus Cases Among Aircraft Carrier Crew

France Finds 668 Coronavirus Cases Among Aircraft Carrier Crew

(Bloomberg) --

France said that at least 668 members of its Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier battle group have been infected by the novel coronavirus, with one now in intensive care.

The country’s defense ministry said in the total number of cases among the crew was an initial figure from tests it ran on 1,767 sailors and that it hadn’t yet obtained results for 30% of the tests administered. About 1,200 crew members were stationed aboard the aircraft carrier and some 955 were in vessels accompanying the main ship, according to the e-mailed statement on Wednesday.

France Finds 668 Coronavirus Cases Among Aircraft Carrier Crew

The vessels that make up the Charles de Gaulle group were disinfected on Tuesday and Wednesday and the crew members put in quarantine at military bases. Among those who tested positive, 31 are now hospitalized, the defense ministry said.

The U.S. navy has also had problems with the virus spreading among crew. On April 13, a sailor aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, which docked in Guam after cases of the coronavirus began spreading on the aircraft carrier, died after receiving treatment in intensive care.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.