ON THE AIRCRAFT CHARLES GAULLE 1081 SAILORS ARE INFECTED WITH COVID-19

USPA NEWS - 1,081 sailors from the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier out of a total of 2,300 people on board tested positive for coronavirus, said Florence Parly, the Minister of the Armed Forces during her hearing at the National Assembly on Friday, April 17. On the Charles-de-Gaulle aircraft carrier, two thirds of the sailors are affected by the coronavirus. For the moment, it is not known how the sailors were contaminated. "We are launching an epidemiological investigation to find out what happened," said admiral Christophe Prazuck on Monday April 20. The Chief of the Naval Staff delivers a new report: 24 sailors are a the hospital and two are in intensive care, in all, 1,046 out of 1,760 sailors have been affected.

THE CHIEF OF STAFF FRANCOIS LECOINTRE SAYS « THERE WAS NO TRANSGRESSION »---------------------------- General François Lecointre, Invited at 8:00 p.m. of TF1 TV, admitted that light still needed to be shed on the conditions under which 60% of the crew of the nuclear building had been contaminated with the new coronavirus. "There is no investigation at this stage to say that people have specifically broken these rules," he said. "And besides I do not think that these rules, in the state of knowledge that we have today, were in reality sufficient, from the moment when people could go out, to be certain of being protected from Coronavirus contamination, "he added. The final figures announced on Saturday to AFP show 1,046 sailors of the aircraft carrier tested positive in 1760.-------------------------------------------------------------------- ADMIRAL CHRISTOPHE PRAZUCK ANSWERS THE QUESTIONS TO FRANCE TV OVER THE COVID-19 INFECTION ON BOARD The Admiral Christophe Prazuck on Monday April 20, gave an interview to France, in order to clarify the circumstances of the infection of COVID-19 of 2/3 of the sailors. We are publishing the interview below. The Chief of the Naval Staff adds that "an epidemiological investigation" has been launched.

QUESTION FRANCE TV : Do you know how the virus got on board?------------------------------------------------------------------ ANSWER CHRISTOPHE PRAZUCK : We are launching an epidemiological investigation to find out what happened. The boat left Toulon on January 21, it went to operate over Iraq and Syria and a month ago stopped in Brest. It was three weeks after the stopover in Brest that the contamination got carried away. There seems to be a relationship between the Brest stopover and the boat, but there have been other exchanges between the boat and the land.------------------------------------------- QUESTION FRANCE TV : Is it true that the commander of the aircraft carrier offered to stop the mission given the risk? ANSWER CHRISTOPHE PRAZUCK: No, that´s not correct. He knows his crew well and when he says that he must interrupt the mission no one will dispute his suggestions. He´s not the only master on board, but no one will dispute his appreciation. When, on April 7, he perceived that the situation was evolving in a galloping way, the decision to interrupt the mission was immediate and without debate.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- QUESTION FRANCE TV: A concert was given on the aircraft carrier while cases were declared. Was it reasonable? ANSWER CHRISTOPHE PRAZUCK: This concert is the orchestra of the sailors of the boat, who gather in the large hangar of the boat and who play for their comrades. A posteriori, this is probably a cohesive activity that could have been avoided. After the stopover in Brest, the boat´s command put in place measures to detect any suspicious cases and to be able to isolate them. He questions the sailors who have come ashore and out of the 2,000 he identifies 300 who could be at risk. A follow-up was done twice a day taking the temperature and the idea that if one is a carrier, it will be detected early enough to isolate it. After 14 days, there are no cases, and gatherings are again allowed. It´s during a weekend in Denmark that the boat´s orchestra plays a few songs in front of 300 sailors who are asked to stay away. The measures appeared to be rigorous and consistent, but they proved to be insufficient. SOURCES : FRANCE TV, AFP