Blissful ignorance? Submariners likely unaware of pandemic

Submariners stealthily cruising the ocean deeps, purposefully shielded from worldly worries to encourage undivided focus on their top-secret missions of nuclear deterrence, may be among the last pockets of people unaware of how the pandemic is turning life upside down.

Mariners aboard ballistic submarines are habitually spared bad news while underwater to avoid undermining their morale, say current and former officers who served aboard France's nuclear-armed subs. So any crews that left port before the virus spread around the globe are likely being kept in the dark about the extent of the rapidly unfurling crisis by their commanders until their return.

French submarine missions last 60 to 70 days, with about 110 crew members aboard. So a crew that left at the end of February wouldn't be expected back before the end of April. In that case, they will return to a world changed by the pandemic.

A French officer told AP that the situation now will be toughest for any crews that leave harbour in the weeks ahead, because they'll know they are leaving loved ones in the midst of the pandemic and, possibly, still living in lockdown.

On March 1, France had just 130 confirmed COVID-19 cases and two deaths. In under a month, those numbers have surged past 2,600 dead and over 40,000 sickened. The French government has already extended its stay-home orders once, to April 15, and said it could do so again.