A sailor assigned to the USS Theodore Roosevelt who was found unresponsive in his isolation quarters and admitted to the ICU last week died of COVID-related complications on April 13.
A large portion of the USS TR's crewmembers — roughly 2,700 sailors — have been moved off the vessel and into hotels and other temporary lodging facilities in Guam. Those who have tested positive for COVID-19 are self-isolating. One sailor was found unresponsive in his isolation quarters Thursday morning and was moved into intensive care. He was the first hospitalization out of the now 550 COVID-19 cases onboard.
Now, that sailor has died from complications related to COVID-19.
"The sailor tested positive for COVID-19 March 30, was removed from the ship and placed in an isolation house on Naval Base Guam with four other USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) sailors," a Navy press release reads. "Like other sailors in isolation, he received medical checks twice daily from Navy medical teams."
On the morning of April 9, when the sailor was found unresponsive, fellow sailors administered CPR.
"The sailors aren't by themselves. They have buddy systems. It's not just waiting for the medical folks to come out every 12 hours," Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General John Hyten said during a Pentagon press briefing on Thursday. "They've got buddies around them all the time. This particular one happened from night to morning but there were buddies around and the buddies found him."
The sailor was declared dead on April 13.
The name of the sailor is being withheld until 24 hours after next-of-kin notification.
"The entire Department is deeply saddened by the loss of our first active duty member to COVID-19," Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said in a statement. "Our thoughts are with the family of the USS Theodore Roosevelt sailor who lost his battle with the virus today. We remain committed to protecting our personnel and their families while continuing to assist in defeating this outbreak."
"This is a great loss for the ship and for our Navy," Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Mike Gilday said in his own statement. "My deepest sympathy goes out the family, and we pledge our full support to the ship and crew as they continue their fight against the coronavirus. While our ships, submarines and aircraft are made of steel, Sailors are the real strength of our Navy."
Both Hyten and Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist insisted on Thursday that, regardless of the current state of the crew, the USS TR is still mission capable.
"It's fully capable of performing its mission if there was a need for it to deploy right away it would be able to do so," Norquist said, explaining that the vast majority of the 413 COVID-19 cases among the crew are either experiencing mild, flu-like symptoms or no symptoms at all. "If it had to go, it could."
"One carrier, as mighty as that carrier is and as amazing as that carrier is — it's a small fraction of the combat power that the United States brings to a puzzle," Hyten added.
Hyten also said, however, that to plan as if the USS TR is the only vessel this susceptible to coronavirus would be a mistake.
"It's not a good idea to think that the Teddy Roosevelt is a one-of-a-kind issue. We have too many ships at sea, we have too many deployed capabilities ..To think it will never happen again is not a good way to plan," Hyten said.
The COVID-19 situation onboard the USS TR developed quickly. On March 23, the aircraft carrier reported 3 COVID-19 cases. Within days that number had grown to 25. The ship's captain, Brett Crozier, took desperate measures to expedite aid to the sailors on board. He was relieved from duty days later.
SECNAV offers resignation following USS Theodore Roosevelt uproar
Former Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly, who dismissed Crozier, has since resigned after facing backlash for his decision and subsequent comments about the captain.
The Navy continues to outpace all other branches with positive COVID-19 cases.
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