- The Navy reported three coronavirus cases on Tuesday aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, which is deployed in the Pacific.
- These cases were the first aboard a deployed US warship, acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly said at the Pentagon.
- The number of infected sailors jumped to eight on Wednesday as five more sailors tested positive, a Navy official told Insider.
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A rising number of sailors serving aboard the US Navy aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt have the coronavirus.
Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly said Tuesday that "three cases of COVID-19 have been identified among personnel currently deployed and underway on the USS Theodore Roosevelt," adding that "these are our first three cases of COVID-19 on a ship that is deployed."
The number of coronavirus cases on the ship jumped to eight on Wednesday as five more sailors tested positive, a Navy official told Insider.
There are roughly 5,000 Navy personnel aboard the Nimitz-class carrier, and the sailors on the ship live in close conditions in staterooms and berthing spaces.
The sailors who have tested positive for the coronavirus have been quarantined and are being flown off the ship. Everyone that the infected sailors had contact with is also under quarantined.
"This is an example of our ability to keep our ships deployed at sea even with active COVID-19 cases," Modly said, adding that the integrated naval force remains on watch.
"Our ships are sailing, our planes are flying, and training is still happening to safeguard our US national interests and those of all of our allies and partners around the world," the acting secretary stated.
This marks the first time the coronavirus has been detected aboard a deployed warship, but the Navy has reported a number of cases among sailors assigned to pier-side ships. As of Sunday, there had been at least a dozen cases among sailors aboard warships at port in San Diego.
US 7th Fleet said Saturday that members of Navy Forward Deployed Preventive Medicine Units and Naval Medical Research Center embarked aboard several ships in the Pacific.
Testing for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, is being conducted aboard the amphibious assault ship USS America, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, and the 7th Fleet flagship USS Blue Ridge. The Navy said Tuesday that it is trying to increase testing, especially aboard its big-deck ships.
Update: This piece, which was first published March 24, has been updated with the latest numbers.
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