Three sailors aboard the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt, an aircraft carrier that was the center of a contentious outbreak last spring, have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to Navy officials.
The sailors, who tested positive on Sunday, were not experiencing any symptoms and were placed in isolation on the ship, which remained “fully operational,” the Navy said in a statement on Monday.
“The ship is following an aggressive mitigation strategy in accordance with Navy and C.D.C. guidelines to include mandatory mask wearing, social distancing, and proper hygiene and sanitation practices,” the statement said.
Last March, the Theodore Roosevelt docked at the naval base in Guam, an American territory in the Pacific, as it contended with a fast-spreading outbreak among its crew of 4,800. For weeks the warship battled the virus that infected at least 585 crew members, including one who died of complications stemming from the coronavirus.
As the ship struggled with the infections in its close, shared quarters, Capt. Brett E. Crozier, the ship’s commander at the time, sent a four-page letter to 20 Navy officials pleading for help, criticizing the Navy’s failures to provide the proper resources to contain the outbreak by moving sailors off the vessel.
In the letter, Captain Crozier pushed for moving nearly the entire crew off the vessel, and then quarantining and testing them while the ship was professionally cleaned.
“We are not at war,” Captain Crozier wrote. “Sailors do not need to die. If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset — our sailors.”
After the letter was leaked, Thomas B. Modly, the acting Navy secretary, fired the captain before an investigation was conducted, prompting widespread criticism, including from Navy officials. Videos of the crew cheering and shouting “Captain Crozier” as he walked off the ship immediately went viral.
Under fire, Mr. Modly later resigned.
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