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The military will begin moving most of crew aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt hit with a coronavirus outbreak to hotels on Guam where the aircraft carrier has been docked since last week, according to a report.
At least 70 members of the 5,000 crew have tested positive for the virus, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
“The plan is to remove as many people off the Teddy Roosevelt as we can, understanding that we have to leave a certain amount of folks on board to do normal watchstanding duties, to keep the ship running,” Rear Admiral John Menoni, Navy commander for the Marianas joint region, said at a brieifing attended by the governor of Guam.
The action comes two days after the captain of the Theodore Roosevelt sent a letter to Navy brass saying that “decisive action is required now” to comply with guidelines released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to “prevent tragic outcomes.”
“We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die,” Capt. Brett Crozier wrote in the four-page letter obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle.
“If we do not act now, we are failing to take care of our most trusted asset — our Sailors.” He urged the military to evacuate the sailors to check the spread of the virus on the ship.
In an appearance on “CBS Evening News” on Tuesday, Defense Secretary Mark Esper admitted that he hadn’t read the letter in “detail” and said he didn’t “think we’re at the point” of clearing the ship.
Gov. Lou Leo Guerrero of Guam, a US territory in the Pacific, said crew members who have not tested positive will be housed in vacant hotels and be required to spend 14 days in quarantine.
She added that military guards will be stationed on all floors and any contact with civilians will be minimal.
The evacuation is expected to begin in the next few days.
Guerrero said she contacted Guam’s military for help even as some locals were opposed to allowing the sailors be quarantined on the island.
“This is not the time for us versus them,” she said. “Kindness and understanding are needed now more than ever.”
