{"id":19038,"date":"2020-04-08T21:39:28","date_gmt":"2020-04-08T21:39:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/04\/08\/nimitz-sailor-tests-positive-for-covid-19-as-carrier-preps-for-deployment\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:17:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:17:00","slug":"nimitz-sailor-tests-positive-for-covid-19-as-carrier-preps-for-deployment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2020\/04\/08\/nimitz-sailor-tests-positive-for-covid-19-as-carrier-preps-for-deployment\/","title":{"rendered":"Nimitz sailor tests positive for COVID-19 as carrier preps for deployment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A sailor assigned to the aircraft carrier Nimitz tested positive last week for the novel coronavirus as the ship continues to ramp up in preparation for a deployment this summer to the Pacific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sailor is the first individual who has physically been onboard the carrier to test positive, Politico first reported<\/a>. Another crew member assigned to the Bremerton, Washington-based ship who previously contracted the virus had not yet boarded the vessel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nimitz medical staff have removed the sailor from the ship and placed the individual in isolation. Retracing the list of personnel who may have come into contact with the sailor has been completed in accordance with guidelines by the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control, Politico reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The carrier began embarking sailors this month with an order to quarantine on the ship in an effort to prevent additional exposure to the general population, a Navy official told Politico. Washington state has been especially hard hit by the spread of COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For sailors onboard Nimitz, the positive test has ignited concern over the possibility of an outbreak, similar to one experienced by the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, which has been sidelined in Guam since late March while the entire crew gets tested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along with the Nimitz and Roosevelt, at least one sailor each from the aircraft carriers Ronald Reagan and Carl Vinson have tested positive for the coronavirus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether the virus will spread aboard Nimitz, meanwhile, remains a source of concern, given not only the lack of COVID-19 testing prior to embarking, but also a CDC-recommended screening process that consists only of a temperature check and questionnaire prior to boarding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s pretty worried,\u201d one Nimitz sailor\u2019s father told the Washington Post<\/a>. \u201cHe feels like they\u2019re not taking it serious. It\u2019s how the chiefs are handling it, and the fact that there are cases on board and they\u2019re still thinking of pulling out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such concern has not been mitigated by the polarizing situation currently being experienced by the crew of the Theodore Roosevelt, one that culminated yesterday with acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly\u2019s official resignation<\/a> \u2014 capping perhaps the most tumultuous 24-hour public relations fiasco the sea service has ever encountered.<\/p>\n\n\n\t