550 sailors aboard Navy carrier Theodore Roosevelt have tested positive for coronavirus

April 12, 2020 12:00 am • Last Updated: April 12, 2020 12:49 am

By By Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News

The USS Theodore Roosevelt is underway in the Philippine Sea during late March. (U.S. Navy handout photo by Specialist Seaman Jomark A. Almazan)

Another 103 sailors aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt have tested positive for coronavirus.

In total, 550 people on the aircraft carrier docked near Guam have been infected with COVID-19, according to a post on the Navy’s website. As of Saturday, 92% of the ship’s nearly 4,600-person crew had been tested.

The Theodore Roosevelt was thrust into the spotlight March 31 after U.S. Navy Capt. Brett Crozier sent a letter to his superiors asking for help with the outbreak on his ship.

The Navy then canned Crozier after the letter leaked to the media. Crozier, of course, was correct about the outbreak and later tested positive for COVID-19 himself. Sailors aboard the Theodore Roosevelt gave Crozier a standing ovation as he departed the ship for the final time.

This Monday, then-Navy Secretary Thomas Modly ripped Crozier and called him “too naive or stupid” to be a commanding officer. That didn’t go over too well, and Modly resigned Tuesday.

No one aboard the Theodore Roosevelt has died from COVID-19, though one sailor was admitted to the ICU on Thursday.

Capt. Brett Crozier, commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), gives remarks during an all-hands call on the ship’s flight deck Dec. 15, 2019. (U.S. Navy handout photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Alexander Williams)

Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly has his temperature read as part of a COVID-19 screening prior to a tour of the USNS Mercy on March 31. Modly resigned Tuesday, (Navy handout photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Natalie M. Byers)

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