North Sea platform closes after outbreak

A North Sea platform has been shut down due to a number of coronavirus infections.

The first crew member tested positive after displayingsymptomsonboard Ithaca Energy's FPF-1 Floating Production Facility around 150 miles (240km) east of Aberdeen - on Tuesday. A further three workers were then found to have been infected with the virus and close contacts of all cases have been told to selfisolate. An Ithaca Energy spokesmansaid:"thesafety and wellbeing of our workforce is our top priority.

"Production on the FPF-1 has been shut in to ensure the safety of all those on board. We are moving to minimum manning, conducting a thorough deep clean, and implementing testing of those essential personnel remaining onboard the platform. We will not seek to restart production until we are confident that the virus has been eradicated from the platform and we can start up in a safe and controlled manner."