COVID-19 Has Sidelined a Modern AirCraft Carrier
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| USS Theodore Roosevelt |
There are now 550 sailors from the USS Theodore Roosevelt that have tested positive for coronavirus, according to the US Navy.
On Saturday, 100 new cases from the carrier were reported, accounting for 75% of the Navy's total coronavirus cases worldwide.
Over 90% of sailors from the aircraft carrier have been tested so far and 3,696 have been moved ashore.
The ship's captain was removed from service earlier this month after his letter begging the Navy to take swifter action leaked to the press.
The number of sailors from the USS Theodore Roosevelt who have tested positive for coronavirus rose by 100 Saturday afternoon, CNN first reported. A total of 550 cases have now been linked to the ship.
The aircraft carrier, which is crewed by roughly 4,800 sailors, has been dealing with a coronavirus outbreak since three sailors tested positive on March 24. Over 3,000 of the sailors were taken ashore in Guam Friday and over 90% have been tested, according to the US Navy.
Cases linked to the USS Theodore Roosevelt now account for 75% of cases in the entire Navy.
Capt. Brett Crozier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt's commanding officer, was removed from his post on April 2 after a letter in which he urged the Navy to take decisive action to evacuate the carrier's crew had been leaked.
"The spread of the disease is ongoing and accelerating," Crozier wrote in his letter. "Sailors do not need to die. If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset — our Sailors."
Crozier's removal sparked outrage both within the Navy and throughout the US. Former Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly, the officer who removed Crozier, apologized and stepped down from his position Tuesday amid widespread backlash.
Morale has dipped in the wake of the episode, US Navy Vice Adm. Bill Merz told CNN Friday.
"There was lots of anxiety about the virus," Merz said. "I think we could have told them earlier what we knew ... I think we could have at least brought them in earlier and started having this dialogue up front."
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