Isolating US Aircraft Carrier Roosevelt's Crew 'Necessary Risk' Amid Pandemic - Captain

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st April, 2020) US nuclear aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt's Captain Brett Crozier believes that isolating the ship's crew after about 200 sailors tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is a "necessary risk," the San Francisco Chronicle reported on Tuesday citing a letter by Crozier to US Navy officials it had obtained.

"Removing the majority of personnel from a deployed US nuclear aircraft carrier and isolating them for two weeks may seem like an extraordinary measure. ... This is a necessary risk," Crozier wrote in the letter. "Keeping over 4,000 young men and women on board the TR [Theodore Roosevelt] is an unnecessary risk and breaks faith with those sailors entrusted to our care."

Crozier said decisive action must be taken immediately in compliance with US Federal health guidelines to prevent the further spread of the infection among the ship's crew.

The captain noted the available options are to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines to ensure the ship is free of COVID-19 or having to sail sick.

Crozier argued that taking decisive measures to protect sailors, including isolating them off the ship, should not be a problem because the United States is not at war.

On March 24, the US Navy first announced that three sailors aboard the Roosevelt tested positive for COVID-19.