BBC 13 April 2020:

A sailor who was serving aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier has become the first on the ship to die from Covid-19, the US Navy announced.

The sailor was moved to an isolation house on Guam after testing positive, where he was found unresponsive on 9 April and died on 13 April.

Over 500 sailors on the USS Roosevelt have tested positive for the virus.

The ship’s captain was fired this month after his letter pleading for help with the outbreak was leaked to US media.

The USS Theodore Roosevelt is currently stationed in Guam, with sailors quarantining ashore. The name of the sailor who died has been withheld by the Navy until the family is notified.

Defence secretary Mark Esper said the department “is deeply saddened by the loss of our first active duty member to Covid-19”.

“We remain committed to protecting our personnel and their families while continuing to assist in defeating this outbreak.”

According to a statement by the Navy, the sailor tested positive for the virus on 30 March and was isolated at the naval base with four others.

He received twice-daily medical checks and was found unresponsive on Thursday morning. Fellow sailors administered CPR and the sailor was transferred to the navy hospital.

The Navy reports that 92% of the crew have tested for Covid-19, with 585 positive cases and 3,724 negative. Nearly 4,000 sailors have been moved off the vessel.

On 30 March, the vessel’s captain, Brett Crozier, sent a letter to defence officials begging for assistance with the outbreak on board, saying the spread was “accelerating” and it was impossible to contain in the ship’s cramped quarters.

His subsequent firing provoked a public outcry and led to the resignation of acting Navy secretary Thomas Modly.

Mr Modly said he removed Capt Crozier for allegedly leaking the letter and creating “the impression the Navy was not responding”, claiming that the captain’s actions were “naive” and “stupid”.

He apologised before resigning.

Capt. Brett Crozier

Business Insider 13 April 2020:

Navy officers on a coronavirus-hit aircraft carrier wanted to sign a dire letter about the outbreak, but the ship’s captain wouldn’t let them

- Senior officers aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier reeling from a coronavirus outbreak offered to sign a revealing letter about the dire situation, only to be denied by the ship’s commander, Capt. Brett Crozier.

- Crozier feared for their careers and denied their request, according to The New York Times.

- Crozier was eventually fired for sending the letter by the Navy’s top official, who berated him to his former crew in controversial remarks that led to the official’s resignation.

Senior officers aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier reeling from a coronavirus outbreak offered to sign a revealing letter about the dire situation, only to be denied by the ship’s commander, Capt. Brett Crozier.

Crozier, who has since been relieved of command for sending the four-page letter out to over 20 recipients, was asked by senior officers on the ship to sign the letter, according to a New York Times report published Sunday.

Crozier reportedly feared for their careers and denied their request.

In his letter, which was first obtained by The San Francisco Chronicle, Crozier urged Navy colleagues to implement a “political solution” and take “immediate and decisive action” as the ship dealt with a coronavirus outbreak.

Crozier is in quarantine after testing positive for the coronavirus. Over 580 of the USS Theodore Roosevelt’s crew of 4,800 tested positive as of Sunday, according to the Navy. Nearly 4,000 crew members have since evacuated the ship into Guam, where many of them are under quarantine in hotels.

The captain was eventually fired on April 2 by then-acting Navy secretary Thomas Modly.

According to Modly, Crozier violated military protocols, circumventing the chain of command by sending the letter to a group of people. Modly said that while he did not know how the letter got to the media, there was a “proper way” for Crozier to handle his concerns.

“If he didn’t think ... that if he didn’t think that information wasn’t going to get out into the public, in this information age that we live in, then he was either A: too naive, or too stupid to be a commanding officer of a ship like this,” Modly said of Crozier. “The alternative is that he did this on purpose.”

Modly has since apologized for his remarks and resigned on April 7.