“The commanding officer of the Theodore Roosevelt alerted leadership in the Pacific Fleet on Sunday evening of continuing challenges in isolating the virus,” a US Navy official tells CNN.
“The ship’s commanding officer advocated for housing more members of the crew in facilities that allow for better isolation,” the official added.
A second Navy official said that the number of positive coronavirus cases on board the aircraft carrier had surpassed 70 as of Tuesday morning, added that the Navy expected that figure to increase.
The outbreak seems to be escalating rapidly, a week ago the Pentagon confirmed three sailors on the Roosevelt had tested positive and that number had risen to 25 two days later. Since then the number of cases has almost tripled. On Monday, a US defense official told CNN that a second US aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan, is also facing a “handful” of positive cases.
As of Tuesday morning 716 US service members have tested positive for the virus and the first military death was announced on Monday.
The San Francisco Chronicle was first to report on the commander’s request for assistance, citing a memo he authored to US Pacific Fleet that was obtained by the paper.
“We are not at war. 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,” the commander of the carrier, Capt. Brett Crozier, wrote in the memo which has not been verified by CNN.
“The spread of the disease is ongoing and accelerating,” he added.
“Decisive action is required. Removing the majority of personnel from a deployed US. nuclear aircraft carrier and isolating them for two weeks may seem like an extraordinary measure,” he wrote according to the memo. “This is a necessary risk. It will enable the carrier and air wing to get back underway as quickly as possible while ensuring the health and safety of our Sailors. Keeping over 4,000 young men and women on board the TR is an unnecessary risk and breaks faith with those Sailors entrusted to our care.”
The US Navy and Pacific Fleet did not verify the authenticity of the memo when contacted by CNN.
However, despite the large number of cases aboard, senior US military officials have insisted that the ship is capable of performing its missions.
“If that ship had to sail today for combat it’s ready to sail right now if it was needed,” Maj. Gen. Jeff Taliaferro the Vice Director for Operations for the Joint Staff, told reporters Monday.
“The appropriate measures are being taken for folks who have tested positive,” he added.
The carrier is currently in port on a visit to Guamt that the military has said was previously scheduled.
Crozier struck a more optimistic tone in a post on the ship’s Facebook page on Monday, saying the “Sailors are in good spirits and are facing this new challenge with a level of professionalism that I have come to expect from such an amazing and resilient team.”
