COVID-19 pandemic on naval ships
[14][15][16] As a precaution, the ship broke off from its operation with the French carrier battle group led by Charles de Gaulle and returned to Zeebrugge, its home port, on 27 March, about a month earlier than planned.
[14][53] Because about 40 crew members were beginning to show symptoms, the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle returned to its home port in Toulon earlier than planned, as reported on 8 April 2020 by the Ministry of Armed Forces.
[53][16] Another ship participating in the mission, Belgium's Leopold I, had broken off to return to port weeks earlier due to a case of coronavirus being found on board.
[27][28] On 15 April, the Ministry of Armed Forces reported that, out of the 1,767 tests that had been conducted on the members of the carrier battle group so far, 668 had returned positive.
[58] On 11 May 2020, Florence Parly reported to the National Assembly the conclusions of two investigations[ad] into the outbreak on board the carrier, stating that the virus had first arrived before a stopover made in Brest, and that although the command and medical team aboard the carrier had "excessive confidence"[ae] in their ability to deal with the virus, the investigations did not consider them at fault.
[59][60] Parly further explained that the introduction of the virus on board the carrier happened sometime between when it left Limassol, Cyprus, on 26 February 2020, and when it arrived at Brest on 13 March 2020.
[59] Parly also noted that all soldiers aboard Charles de Gaulle have since recovered from the disease except for one sailor, who was still hospitalized after leaving the ICU.
[59] On 30 March 2020, the Ministry of Defence reported that eight crew members of the Dutch submarine HNLMS Dolfijn had tested positive.
It had arrived at the Subic Bay anchorage area on 23 May and remained there to fulfill mandatory quarantine and swab testing requirements.
[62] On 19 July 2020, the Philippine News Agency reported that, following the commissioning ceremony, two crew members of BRP Jose Rizal had tested positive for the virus and had been evacuated to a quarantine facility on shore.
[48] On 18 April 2020, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung reported that three Republic of China Navy cadets, interning on one of the ships of the Dunmu fleet [zh], had tested positive for coronavirus.
[38] After departing Palau, the fleet remained at sea for roughly a month before returning to Zuoying Naval Base on 15 April.
[71] On 26 May, Chang Shan-chwen, an adviser to the Central Epidemic Command Center, stated that the index case on the Pan Shi was likely to have been infected in Taiwan.
[6] On 17 March 2020, United States Pacific Fleet reported that a crew member of the American destroyer USS Ralph Johnson had tested positive the previous day.
[8] On 17 March 2020, United States Pacific Fleet reported that a crew member of the American littoral combat ship USS Coronado had tested positive that day.
[23][83] One sailor received a positive result the previous week after exhibiting symptoms, and was subsequently placed in isolation and removed from the ship.
[86] On 17 April 2020, The Wall Street Journal reported that Navy officials had stated that at least 9 sailors assigned to American amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli had tested positive for the virus.
[7] On 24 April 2020, the United States Navy reported that a sailor assigned to American destroyer USS Kidd had tested positive for the virus after being medically evacuated the previous day from operations at sea.
[88][90] At the time the first sailor was medically evacuated from the ship, USS Kidd had been part of an operation to prevent drug trafficking near South America.
[12] By 27 April 2020, 45% of the crew members had been tested, with 47 total positive cases reported, and 15 sailors transferred to USS Makin Island for additional monitoring.
[12] By 28 April 2020, 64 had tested positive, and USS Kidd had docked in San Diego that afternoon to be disinfected, a process that might take up to two weeks.
[17] On 30 April 2020, USNI News reported that two civilian mariners on American fleet replenishment oiler USNS Leroy Grumman had been infected with the virus.
[21][41] The source of the infection was unclear, but a spokesperson for Military Sealift Command (MSC) stated that there were outside contractors at the shipyard who had tested positive earlier.
[46] The spokesperson declined to provide an exact number of sailors, citing Defense Department policy, but added that those infected were "being checked on each day by their leadership [and] receiving deliveries of food and essential items".
[49] The sailors had been interviewed by the Union-Tribune presumably regarding a fire aboard American amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard.
[49] On 30 July 2020, Navy Times reported that a spokesperson for Naval Air Force Atlantic confirmed that a "small number" of sailors assigned to American aircraft carrier USS George H.W.
[51] The spokesperson declined to provide an exact number of sailors or a more precise date regarding when the virus was detected, citing Defense Department policy, but added that the carrier was not deployed at the time, and that those infected "remain[ed] in isolation at their private residences in Virginia and receive[d] daily medical supportive care".
