An outbreak of coronavirus has been recorded on the flagship of the Royal Navy of Great Britain. Yesterday, on July 14, the BBC news service reported that about 100 cases of COVID-19 infection were detected on the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, which is on its first long-distance trip.
Other ships of the international aircraft carrier strike group, which is headed by HMS Queen Elizabeth, have also been found to be ill. Currently, the group is located in the waters of the Indian Ocean.
A strike group led by the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth
Image source: UK Royal Navy
British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said that the COVID-19 outbreak is under control, as all crew members were vaccinated with two doses of the vaccine. The sailors are ordered to wear masks and observe social distance, the situation is being monitored. According to Wallace, the strike group will continue to perform operational tasks, and the outbreak of the disease will not make changes to deployment plans.
On May 22, the British flagship left the naval base in Portsmouth, leading a 28-week campaign of the strike group. Its length will be 26,000 nautical miles (48,100 km) with stops in India, Japan, South Korea and Singapore.
HMS Queen Elizabeth is the lead ship of a series of two newest British aircraft carriers. The Queen's air wing consists of F-35B Lightning II fighter-bombers and Merlin helicopters (up to 40 vehicles with the possibility of expanding the wing to 70 units), in addition, the aircraft carrier will be able to carry attack and heavy military transport helicopters, as well as V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft. The base air wing will consist of 12 F-35Bs, the crew will be less than 700 people (plus 300 people from the air wing), with full combat readiness, the ship will be able to accommodate up to 1600 people.