There's a French aircraft carrier with an even more significant COVID-19 outbreak on board than the one on the USS Theodore Roosevelt.
France's biggest aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle now has more than 1,000 sailors infected with COVID-19 -- that's close to half of its 2,300-member crew.
The Charles de Gaulle cut its North Atlantic deployment short by two weeks to return to port in Touloun on the Mediterranean Coast on April 12 after 40 sailors had begun showing symptoms of COVID-19, according to a statement from France's Defense Ministry. In the weeks since then, more than 1,000 sailors have tested positive. According to an article by Navy Times, approximately 930 more test results are still pending.
The outbreak of the infection has been linked to a port visit the carrier made in Brest in mid-March, according to the Associated Press. France's defense minister defended the decision to allow the stop despite the school closures already in place.
With a roughly 50 percent infection rate, the outbreak on board the Charles de Gaulle has surpassed that of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, the American aircraft carrier that garnered national attention after her commander, Captain Brett Crozier, was relieved off duty after his desperate letter for help fighting the outbreak onboard leaked to the press.
As of Monday, the USS TR had 678 confirmed COVID-19 cases among its crew of roughly 4,800, 94 percent of which has been tested for the virus. The vessel ported in Guam on March 27 and evacuated the vast majority of its crew into "isolation quarters" on Guam. One sailor from the USS TR died on April 13 from COVID-related complications.
The U.S. Navy continues to outpace all other branches of the military with positive COVID-19 tests indicating that -- much like with the Charles de Gaulle -- virus prevention measures onboard the tight quarters of naval vessels are not largely effective.
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Reach Elizabeth Howe on Twitter @ECBHowe.
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