By CAITLIN KENNEY | For updates and corrections visit Stars and Stripes
WASHINGTON — A sailor assigned to the USS Theodore Roosevelt has died from the coronavirus, the second American service member to be killed by the virus, the Navy announced Monday.
The sailor had been in intensive care on Guam, according to a Navy statement. The name of the sailor has not been announced, pending the notification of the individual’s family.
The sailor tested positive for the coronavirus March 30 and was taken off the ship in Guam and placed into isolation with four other sailors, the Navy said. The aircraft carrier was diverted to Guam on March 27 due to the coronavirus outbreak aboard the ship.
Capt. Brett Crozier, the former commander of the Roosevelt, emailed a letter to at least 20 service officials requesting assistance for the ship as its crew battled the coronavirus outbreak. Crozier warned in his letter that the outbreak could kill some sailors, and “if we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset — our sailors.”
The letter was leaked to the media and Crozer was fired two days later on April 2 by then acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly. At the time, there were about 114 Roosevelt sailors who tested positive for the coronavirus.
“[Crozier] did not take care and what that did is it created a…little bit of a panic on the ship,” he said at the Pentagon when he announced Crozier was relieved of command.
Modly then traveled to the Roosevelt and in a speech to the crew called Crozier stupid, among other things. He came under mounting criticism for his comments about Crozier and he resigned his post as acting Navy secretary on April 7.
On Thursday at about 8:30 a.m., the Roosevelt sailor who died was found unresponsive during a medical check and other sailors started CPR while emergency responders were notified, according to the Navy. The sailor was then transferred to intensive care and died Monday of complications associated with the virus. The sailors who are isolated receive twice daily checks by Navy medical personnel.
As of Sunday, there were 585 Roosevelt sailors with positive tests for the virus. Most of the crew has been tested, with 3,724 receiving a negative test result. About 3,967 sailors have been transferred from the ship to Guam.
On March 28, Army Capt. Douglas Linn Hickok, 57, with the New Jersey National Guard died from the coronavirus. He was preparing to activate with the Guard as a physician assistant in response to the pandemic when he became sick.
As of Monday, about 2,941 service members have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the Defense Department.