In a statement, the Navy said the sailor was in a 14-day isolation period when admitted to the U.S. Naval Hospital Guam. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the sailor was found unresponsive and received cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The sailor is in critical condition.
The number of positive cases on the nuclear-powered ship is now 416, up from the 286 positive cases that the Navy reported April 8.
Air Force Gen. John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at the Pentagon that the military needs to plan for the possibility of more virus infections on the level of the Theodore Roosevelt.
“I think it is not a good idea to think that the (Theodore Roosevelt) is a one-of-a-kind issue. ... To think that it will never happen again, is not a good way to plan,” Hyten said.
The general added that there had been a small number of cases aboard another aircraft carrier as well, the nuclear-powered Nimitz. Sailors assigned to four aircraft carriers have now tested positive for the CCP virus, the U.S. official told Reuters.
The CCP virus outbreak on the ship led to the resignation on April 7 of acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly, following backlash related to Modly’s firing and then ridiculing the commander of the Theodore Roosevelt, who had pleaded for Navy officials to urgently evacuate the ship to protect the health of its sailors.
Modly’s resignation occurred as a result of comments he made about the carrier’s former skipper to the ship’s crew, and followed Trump’s own suggestion on April 6 that he might get involved in the crisis—saying the Navy captain whom Modly fired was also “a good man.”
Capt. Brett Crozier, who Modly relieved of command last week, had urged more dramatic steps to safeguard his sailors aboard the Theodore Roosevelt in a four-page letter that leaked to the public last week. Crozier is later believed to have tested positive for the virus.
Modly’s controversial trip to Guam over the weekend, when he ridiculed the commander of the aircraft carrier, cost taxpayers at least $243,000.
During the trip, Modly questioned Crozier’s character while addressing the crew of the Roosevelt, saying at one point, he was either “stupid” or “naive.” After audio of his speech leaked, including expletives, Modly initially said he stood by his remarks. But he later apologized at the request of U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper.
