'Sailors do not need to die,' warns captain of coronavirus-hit U.S. aircraft carrier

[webfact]

'Sailors do not need to die,' warns captain of coronavirus-hit U.S. aircraft carrier

By Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart

 

FILE PHOTO: The USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) is seen while entering into the port in Da Nang, Vietnam, March 5, 2020. REUTERS/Kham/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The captain of the U.S. aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, in a blunt letter, has called on Navy leadership for stronger measures to save the lives of his sailors and stop the spread of the coronavirus aboard the huge ship.

 

The four-page letter, the contents of which were confirmed by U.S. officials to Reuters on Tuesday, described a bleak situation on board the nuclear-powered carrier as more and more sailors test positive for the virus.

 

The Navy puts the ship's complement at 5,000, the equivalent of a small American town.

 

The letter was first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.

 

Captain Brett Crozier, the ship's commanding officer, wrote that the carrier lacked enough quarantine and isolation facilities and warned the current strategy would slow but fail to eradicate the virus.

 

In the letter dated Monday, he called for "decisive action" and removing over 4,000 sailors from the ship and isolating them. Along with the ship's crew, naval aviator and others serve aboard the Roosevelt.

 

"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," Crozier wrote.

 

The carrier was in the Pacific when the Navy reported its first coronavirus case a week ago. It has since pulled into port in Guam, a U.S. island territory in the western Pacific.

 

Acting U.S. Navy Secretary Thomas Modly said he had heard about the letter on Tuesday morning and that the Navy has been working for several days to get the sailors off ship in Guam. Modly said Guam did not have enough beds, and the Navy was in talks with the local government to use hotels and set up tents.

 

"We don't disagree with the (commanding officer) on that ship, and we're doing it in a very methodical way because it's not the same as a cruise ship ... that ship has armaments on it, it has aircraft on it," he said on CNN.

 

U.S. officials, also speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that nearly 80 people aboard the ship had tested positive for the virus, a number likely to increase as all personnel on the ship are tested.

 

Still, the Navy declined to confirm exactly how many people aboard the Roosevelt have been infected.

 

Reuters first reported last week that the U.S. military has decided it will stop providing some of the more granular data about coronavirus infections within its ranks, citing concern that the information might be used by adversaries as the virus spreads.

 

But the Theodore Roosevelt is just the latest example of the spread of the virus within the U.S. military. Navy officials say that sailors onboard a number of ships have tested positive, including an amphibious assault ship at port in San Diego.

 

The first U.S. military service member, a New Jersey Army National Guardsman, died on Saturday from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, the Pentagon said on Monday.

 

As of Tuesday, 673 active duty service members had tested positive for the coronavirus, an increase of more than 100 from the previous day, the Pentagon said in a statement.

 

(Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart. Additional reporting by Susan Heavey; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-04-01

Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

[Puchaiyank]

No one is exempt...military community is particularly at risk by the general close proximity of its members on a daily basis...

[smedly]

many US sailors on soi 6 pattaya last month

[nobodysfriend]

Another floating petridish with the virus multiplying in a confined space . Ready to spread after disembarking the vessel ...

But what else to do ?

Politicians start to fear for the economic consequences more than for the people infected . ( infected ( without knowing it ) people will need to go back to work ... ) . Like this , or like that , the little virus has put the human economy 'checkmate ' .

[mtls2005]

I guess I just assumed that the DoD had modeled this sort of event, and had a playbook for it? That they don't, or are unable to execute it is alarming.

 

I think the term in the British Navy way back when was "Cleanse or Die"?

 

 

[Puchaiyank]

3 hours ago, smedly said:

many US sailors on soi 6 pattaya last month

I suspect many caught something...other than the virus...????

[alanrchase]

Yet another "acting" person in charge.

[Stargeezr]

Why did the carrier not make its sailors use caution, if they left the ship

and go to where the virus existed?  This virus is not just a week or 2 old, so

it shows that the Navy was, careless, or maybe arrogent in taking the Covid 19

virus more seriously.  Hope thay fare better than NY is doing.

Geezer

[Pedrogaz]

Keep them on the ocean and throw the bodies overboard until the epidemic on the ship is done. You enlist, you offer your life for your citizens....so instead of coming back and infecting more people man up sit it out. The virus has very low mortality among young fir people but is deadly to the elderly. 

Captain Crozier, you are a disgrace.

[Almer]

5 hours ago, Puchaiyank said:

No one is exempt...military community is particularly at risk by the general close proximity of its members on a daily basis...

I seem to remember 3 weeks ago the American navy allowing shore  leave in Pattaya.

[Magenta408]

They are going to spread their goodies to Vietnam now. Get out of Dodge.

[Almer]

10 minutes ago, Pedrogaz said:

Keep them on the ocean and throw the bodies overboard until the epidemic on the ship is done. You enlist, you offer your life for your citizens....so instead of coming back and infecting more people man up sit it out. The virus has very low mortality among young fir people but is deadly to the elderly. 

Captain Crozier, you are a disgrace.

13 year old dies in the UK with no known underlying, its not  just old people is it.

[sukhumvitneon]

5 hours ago, smedly said:

many US sailors on soi 6 pattaya last month

probably a lot of Chinese tourists too

[Srikcir]

1 hour ago, mtls2005 said:

I guess I just assumed that the DoD had modeled this sort of event, and had a playbook for it? That they don't, or are unable to execute it is alarming.

 

I think the term in the British Navy way back when was "Cleanse or Die"?

 

 

It's more alarming that the Commander-in-Chief Trump and his Secretary of Defense were deaf to the virus danger aboard a closed ship environment.

[stevenl]

36 minutes ago, Almer said:

13 year old dies in the UK with no known underlying, its not  just old people is it.

As he said, low mortality, not no mortality.

[MikeN]

I hope that they are testing SSBN crews pre-patrol, now they would be a real Petri dish ! 150 people living close together in a tin can for 3 months or so .....

[Mansell]

I see this as part of the inept reaction to this virus in the USA. I have friends who are nurses and doctors in the US who don’t have the needed protective gear, and if they complain at their hospital they are fired. Also Trump is lying about tests being available to everybody.....a doctor friend who cannot even get one for his son. It is a disaster in motion. We may end up being lucky we are in Thailand.

[nauseus]

34 minutes ago, MikeN said:

I hope that they are testing SSBN crews pre-patrol, now they would be a real Petri dish ! 150 people living close together in a tin can for 3 months or so .....

Good point. By the way the Roosevelt was not in Thailand recently but they do need to get the whole crew tested soonest and I bet they will, as this ship is too valuable to risk having her non-operational. A lot of people on these threads talk about testing as if these kits are falling of the shelves in huge warehouses somewhere..but they are not. This is a new virus and the lack of accurate, quick test kits has been a problem almost everywhere.

[marko kok prong]

4 hours ago, Pedrogaz said:

Keep them on the ocean and throw the bodies overboard until the epidemic on the ship is done. You enlist, you offer your life for your citizens....so instead of coming back and infecting more people man up sit it out. The virus has very low mortality among young fir people but is deadly to the elderly. 

Captain Crozier, you are a disgrace.

Bit harsh old chap,see your point,but surely another solution can be found.

[Basil B]

7 hours ago, Almer said:

I seem to remember 3 weeks ago the American navy allowing shore  leave in Pattaya.

They do often, and I am sure the navy pharmacists stock up well with penicillin...  

[Bundooman]

8 hours ago, Pedrogaz said:

Keep them on the ocean and throw the bodies overboard until the epidemic on the ship is done. You enlist, you offer your life for your citizens....so instead of coming back and infecting more people man up sit it out. The virus has very low mortality among young fir people but is deadly to the elderly. 

Captain Crozier, you are a disgrace.

"You enlist, you offer your life for your citizens"

Selfish, ignorant opinion and attitude!

You get Covid - hope the doctors and nurses take the same view as you.

You got it, man up - you forfeit your life - not our problem!

[IAMHERE]

I didn't read where any sailors have died from  Covid-19. Probably many on that ship will be infected and some get real sick but unless they need a respirator that is not on the ship why would they be let off the ship? Isn't this an opportunity to see how many will get how sick and how many will survive and if it is possible to quarantine an island of 5,000 souls. 

[White Christmas13]

10 hours ago, Almer said:

13 year old dies in the UK with no known underlying, its not  just old people is it.

you must have missed the 12 year old boy and 16 year old girl

[Almer]

Guilty as charged, i did miss those its so fast moving its a job to keep abreast.

 

[riclag]

On 4/1/2020 at 11:22 AM, Mansell said:

I see this as part of the inept reaction to this virus in the USA. I have friends who are nurses and doctors in the US who don’t have the needed protective gear, and if they complain at their hospital they are fired. Also Trump is lying about tests being available to everybody.....a doctor friend who cannot even get one for his son. It is a disaster in motion. We may end up being lucky we are in Thailand.

Oh Please! ! Testing was always determined by Mr. Trump with the advise of the task force and CDC. When Mr. Trump made that statement he followed it up with "as of right now and yesterday"! So my interpretation as of right now, changed to,  people who are showing symptoms! 

Here  is another statement that the POTUS relied on 

"And it’s important to note that at no time during this response has CDC ever denied a request that came from a public health official, either state or local, to test a patient.  So all the patients who needed to be tested, in the opinion of the public health officials, have been tested". said Dr. Monroe

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-tour-centers-disease-control-prevention-atlanta-ga/

 

[Tug]

On 3/31/2020 at 8:20 PM, Pedrogaz said:

Keep them on the ocean and throw the bodies overboard until the epidemic on the ship is done. You enlist, you offer your life for your citizens....so instead of coming back and infecting more people man up sit it out. The virus has very low mortality among young fir people but is deadly to the elderly. 

Captain Crozier, you are a disgrace.

Huhhh you think a captain concerned about the welfare of his crew is a disgrace??you can’t be serious 

[USNret]

The captain of the ship has been fired (removed from command).  Not for writing the letter, but for leaking it.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/navy-relieve-captain-aircraft-carrier-leak-letter-leadership/story?id=69944944