April 16, 2020 - 12:06 AMT
668 French aircraft carrier crew test positive for coronavirus

A third of the nearly 2,000 sailors who were aboard a French aircraft carrier and support craft when a coronavirus outbreak occurred at sea have tested positive, Al Jazeera reports.

With two-thirds of test results in, 668 sailors from the Charles de Gaulle and escort vessels in its battle group are confirmed to have COVID-19, France's defence ministry announced on Wednesday.

Thirty-one were being treated in hospital, and one was in intensive care, a ministry statement said.

Last week, the Charles de Gaulle was brought back 10 days early from a deployment in the Atlantic after some crew members showed coronavirus symptoms.

Sailors from the Charles de Gaulle and one of the frigates - and the pilots who returned the aircraft to their respective bases - are all placed in isolation for 14 days, the ministry said.

There had been no virus outbreak on the other frigate.