Fifty COVID-19 cases have been registered on board France's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, the country's defence ministry said.
"The tests confirm 50 COVID-19 cases on board. Three sailors have been evacuated on an aircraft, to be taken to a hospital in France," the French Defense Ministry said in a communique.
Tests have been conducted over suspicions that 40 crew members could be infected.
The aircraft carrier is on the way to its home port in Toulon, the ministry added.
On 9 April, the French health ministry confirmed that the death toll from the new coronavirus in the country stood at 12,210.