13,000 British military personnel absent due to coronavirus

The figure is almost 10 percent of the workforce.

Fewer than 100 service members have tested positive for the virus. Picture: John Devlin

Some 9.1 percent of UK Armed Forces personnel have reported as being absent from their usual place of work today due to reasons related to coronavirus.

This equates to around 13,000 staff either off work due to symptoms of the virus, working from home, or self-isolating to protect others, the British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) reported.

The figure includes personnel from both the regular and reserve force.

Fewer than 100 service personnel have tested positive for Covid-19.

It comes after shadow defence secretary John Healy urged the government to make public figures around how many service members had been tested for the disease amid concerns over outbreaks within the military in other countries.

Almost 600 members of the US Navy tested positive for Covid-19 after an outbreak on the USS Theodore Roosevelt, while 40 cases were detected aboard the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle last week.

A total of 2,937 British military personnel are currently deployed to assist civil authorities in the fight against coronavirus.

There are 20,000 troops on standby as part of the ‘COVID support force’.

Personnel have been engaged in building temporary hospitals, including the NHS Louisa Jordan in Glasgow, as well as supporting ambulance services and delivering PPE to frontline NHS staff.