China’s first home-built aircraft carrier, the Shandong, tightens shore leave regulations to combat coronavirus

Shore leave rules for the crew of China’s first home-built aircraft carrier have been tightened to prevent an outbreak of coronavirus on board, the navy said.

Embarking and disembarking from the Shandong will now involve extra security, Naval News, an official website of the People’s Liberation Army Navy, reported on Tuesday.

Naval command headquarters has set a daily quota for the crew, and whoever wants to go ashore must have personal permission from Captain Lai Yijun or Political Commissar Pang Jianhong after medical screening.

“That was to cut off the possible transmission outside the ship and block the virus before any infection,” the navy said. It did not say what, if any, extra measures were applied to other Chinese warships.

While the crew of the 65,000 tonne warship will stick to routine duties and training programmes, the Shandong will step up hygiene regulations and drills. “Each and every corner” of the vessel has been disinfected, Naval News, which referred to a “closed-off management” situation on the ship, said.

It stressed that military training should not be affected by outbreak precautions, while emergency breakdown drills and studies on missile defence went ahead as usual.

Some of the Shandong crew were in the worst-hit areas of China, the report said, but there had not been any cases of infection. It did not say if those crew members were on leave or seconded to emergency operations.

Veterans deployed as China coronavirus death toll exceeds 2,000

The novel coronavirus was identified in January and has spread across China. It causes the disease known as Covid-19 – and that has infected about 74,000 people and killed more than 2,000.

Shandong is China’s second commissioned carrier after the Liaoning, with a complement of more than 1,000. It went into service on December 17 after a ceremony on the southern island of Hainan.

Last year, the PLA Navy said it planned to have four carrier strike groups and has stepped up pilot training, choosing to take cadets from naval aeronautical universities rather than enlist experienced air force pilots.

In the Shandong’s home port of Sanya, 54 cases of coronavirus were reported by Wednesday, with 22 people cured and one fatality. On Hainan, there were 163 cases and four deaths.