At least 416 of the sailors from the USS Theodore Roosevelt have tested positive for the new coronavirus (COVID-19), and at least one of them is in an intensive care unit (ICU), Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman Air Force Gen. John Hyten told reporters on Thursday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th April, 2020) At least 416 of the sailors from the USS Theodore Roosevelt have tested positive for the new coronavirus (COVID-19), and at least one of them is in an intensive care unit (ICU), Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman Air Force Gen. John Hyten told reporters on Thursday.
"We've tested almost the whole crew now. We still have about 1,000 tests left to report out. But 3,170 out of the crew tested negative, 416 have tested positive, 187 of those were symptomatic, and 229 were asymptomatic," Hyten said. "We still have 1,164 pending results. And we've now had one hospitalized in the ICU."
The announcement comes after Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly resigned from his post following a dispute over a COVID-19 outbreak aboard the ship.
The outbreak was first made public when an email written by the ship's captain, Brett Crozier was leaked to the media. In the email, Crozier warned of an outbreak among the crew of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and said there was an urgent need to quarantine affected sailors.
Last Thursday, Modly announced that he removed Crozier from his post, saying he improperly sent the email about his concerns, using channels that were not secure to convey confidential information.
Modly himself later resigned after coming under fire for removing the captain and calling him "naive" or "stupid" for sounding the alarm about the COVID-19 outbreak aboard the aircraft carrier.
