Coronavirus: HMS Queen Elizabeth stays in Portsmouth for crew tests

A planned sailing of the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth has been postponed while crew members are tested for coronavirus.

The carrier had been due to sail from Portsmouth on Tuesday for a period of sea training with 800 crew onboard.

The navy had initially planned for it to sail without any of the crew being tested beforehand.

However, in the last 24 hours it reversed the decision saying there was extra capacity in testing.

On Wednesday, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace was asked by MPs about the plans to allow the carrier to go to sea given recent Covid-19 outbreaks on a number of US carriers and the French navy's Charles de Gaulle.

Mr Wallace told MPs that he had given the captain of HMS Queen Elizabeth full authority to return to port if there was an outbreak and it was deemed necessary.

However, the navy has since announced there would be a "short but manageable delay in sailing" until at least Thursday.

A navy spokesman said: "In addition to an isolation period at sea, the Royal Navy is now making use of spare NHS testing capacity to test the crew of HMS Queen Elizabeth prior to sailing.

"This is the right and sensible thing to do to ensure the Navy can continue to deliver on operations now and in the future.

"She will be operating in waters close to the UK coast and the commanding officer has the discretion to cease the training, if deemed necessary."