{"id":54764,"date":"2020-02-28T16:37:10","date_gmt":"2020-02-28T16:37:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/02\/28\/acting-secnav-modly-gaps-between-port-visits-will-last-until-covid-19-threat-is-eliminated\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T09:31:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T09:31:03","slug":"acting-secnav-modly-gaps-between-port-visits-will-last-until-covid-19-threat-is-eliminated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2020\/02\/28\/acting-secnav-modly-gaps-between-port-visits-will-last-until-covid-19-threat-is-eliminated\/","title":{"rendered":"Acting SECNAV Modly: Gaps between port visits will last until COVID-19 threat is eliminated"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Gaps between port visits for ships traveling within the 7th Fleet\u2019s area of operations will last until the U.S. service members are no longer in jeopardy of contracting the coronavirus<\/a>, acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modley said Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The comments follow U.S. Pacific Fleet commander Adm. John C. \u201cLung\u201d Aquilino\u2019s order for all 7th Fleet ships to wait at least 14 days before visiting another port within the 7th Fleet\u2019s area of operations, thanks to the coronavirus outbreak. This allows time to ensure crews don\u2019t contract the illness, known as COVID-19<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been actually looking at this for several weeks now. I know it\u2019s sort of come out in the news lately that we\u2019re taking these actions, but we\u2019ve been looking at this for a very long time,\u201d Modly said Friday in a radio interview with Hugh Hewitt. \u201cAnd we\u2019re going to keep whatever actions and restrictions in place as long as we feel that there may be some risk to our sailors. So we\u2019re going to continue to do this and monitor it closely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t