After docking at the Vietnamese port of Da Nang, during which the crew went ashore and interacted with locals, the US Navy aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt pulled into Guam last week amid reports of several cases of COVID-19 registered among the crew.
The commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, a US Navy aircraft carrier consumed by an outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus, has urged the Navy's Pacific Fleet in a memo to take immediate action to save the lives of his crew, according to three US defense officials cited by CNN.
Stating that the spread of the disease is “ongoing and accelerating,” Capt. Brett Crozier appealed:
“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 vessel, which docked in Guam last week after several members of its crew tested positive for COVID-19, continued:
“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… 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.”
CNN cited a US Navy official as confirming that the commanding officer of the…
