Masks, isolation, ventilation … On board the frigate “Auvergne”, the sailors mobilized against the Covid-19

In the passageways, on the catwalk of the military frigate Auvergne, in the engine room, the sailors are masked all the time and all are vaccinated. In this life behind closed doors, necessarily, the permanent wearing of a mask is … “tiresome”, generally agreed, but like everyone else at the moment.

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Especially since the choice was left to the crew: either wear these masks all the time with authorized shore excursions during stopovers, or not to wear a mask, but on the condition that no one passes the quay during stopovers down.

“It is a constraint but it is quite relative: we are a combat vessel: we are supposed to go to war and die maybe one day for France, so ….”

Pierre Alban, frigate captain, mate of the ship

to franceinfo

“What was important, underlines Pierre Alban, it was to reopen the stopovers and to ensure that the sailors can, for two or three days, go out ashore because on a four-month mission, indeed, that can weigh. “” The first year of the Covid, continues the soldier, that’s what happened: we didn’t go past the platform. And there, indeed, it can have an impact on the crew. “

On board the 142-meter-long vessel, the infirmary can perform PCR tests on board. Positive sailors can be isolated and ventilation is adjusted to prevent spread on board. Everywhere, prevention posters remind us of barrier actions and invitations to clean ramps and partitions on board. Anti-Covid hygiene is in addition to overcrowding and extended hours, but that does not necessarily create stress, says chief medical officer Diane. “The stress comes more from worry for the sailors of their families ashore”, she says.

“If we have zero cases of Covid during the entire mission, on January 20, we can go home without isolation or PCR test: it’s positive reinforcement!”

Diane, chief medical officer

to franceinfo

The anti-Covid doctrine is a 19-page document: “Nineteen pages of common sense”, insists Pierre Alban, the second officer. Common sense nourished by lessons learned from contamination. Two years ago, aboard the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, 1,000 sailors, or two-thirds of the ship’s crew, had been contaminated and the mission had been cut short.