"There's been a very small number of breakouts on the Nimitz, and we're watching that very closely," Air Force Gen. John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at the Pentagon on Thursday about the 5,000-member crews. He said that those sailors have "been isolated on the ship."
Hyten pointed to the inherent problem of containing the spread of the virus, which causes a disease known as COVID-19, aboard a ship in which many crewmembers share quarters, sometimes with as many as two dozen sleeping in bunks in one room. Not enough local hotel space exists in Bremerton, Washington, where the ship is based, for its commanders to quarantine crew members, so they're attempting to isolate them on board, the general said.
Pentagon ENDS the career of USS Theodore Roosevelt captain Brett Crozier after upholding decision to fire him over leaked letter and BLAMES HIM for coronavirus outbreak aboard the ship
When the coronavirus outbreak was discovered on the Roosevelt, Crozier sent an email to several commanders pleading for more urgent action
That email was leaked to media, and the acting Navy secretary at the time, Thomas Modly, accused Crozier of bad judgment
He was relieved of his command on April 2, and an initial investigation found he should be reinstated
But a deeper probe upheld the decision to fire him because he 'made serious errors in judgement' that failed to stem the outbreak
More than 1,000 members of the USS Theodore Roosevelt crew were infected with coronavirus, and one died
The ship was sidelined for weeks at Guam but recently returned to duty.