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

News Service
09:41 - 1/04/2020 Çarşamba
Update: 09:44 - 1/04/2020 Çarşamba
REUTERS
File photo: U.S. Navy sailors lower a larne target from the fantail of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt in the Philippine Sea March 21, 2020
File photo: U.S. Navy sailors lower a larne target from the fantail of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt in the Philippine Sea March 21, 2020

'NOT THE SAME AS A CRUISE SHIP'

Acting U.S. Navy Secretary Thomas Modly said he had heard about the letter on Tuesday morning and that the Navy had been working for several days to get the sailors off the 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.

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

The 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.

#sailors
#US
#coronavirus
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