A sailor aboard the COVID-19-stricken USS Theodore Roosevelt has died of the disease, the Navy announced Monday.
The sailor, whose name was not released pending notification of family, tested positive for COVID-19 March 30 and was placed in isolation. He was found unresponsive in his room April 9 and moved to intensive care at U.S. Naval Hospital Guam, where the aircraft carrier is docked.
The crisis on the ship has rocked the Navy. As of Sunday, 585 members of the 4,800-member crew had tested positive for the coronavirus. The ship’s former commander, Capt. Brett Crozier, was fired after pleading for help. And the acting Navy secretary Thomas Modly resigned under fire for dismissing Crozier.
The sailor is the second service member to die of the disease, which had infected nearly 3,000 troops as of April 9, according to the Pentagon. Army Capt. Douglas Linn Hickok, 57, a drilling Guardsman and physician assistant, died March 30 in a Pennsylvania hospital.
The Navy had tested 92% of the Roosevelt’s crew as of Sunday and moved nearly 4,000 sailors to shore. Sailors remain aboard the ship to operate its nuclear reactors, guard its weapons and aircraft, and to sanitize the vessel.
