Iran Press/America: The number of sailors from the USS Theodore Roosevelt who have tested positive for coronavirus rose by 100 Saturday afternoon. A total of 550 cases have now been linked to the ship.
The aircraft carrier, which is crewed by roughly 4,800 sailors, has been dealing with a coronavirus outbreak since three sailors tested positive on March 24. Over 3,000 of the sailors were taken ashore in Guam Friday and over 90% have been tested, according to the US Navy, CNN reported.
Cases linked to the USS Theodore Roosevelt now account for 75% of cases in the entire Navy.
Capt. Brett Crozier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt's commanding officer, was removed from his post on April 2 after a letter in which he urged the Navy to take decisive action to evacuate the carrier's crew had been leaked.
"The spread of the disease is ongoing and accelerating," Crozier wrote in his letter. "Sailors do not need to die. If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset — our Sailors."
Crozier's removal sparked outrage both within the Navy and throughout the US. Former Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly, the officer who removed Crozier, apologized and stepped down from his position Tuesday amid widespread backlash.
Morale has dipped in the wake of the episode, US Navy Vice Adm. Bill Merz told CNN Friday.
"There was lots of anxiety about the virus," Merz said. "I think we could have told them earlier what we knew ... I think we could have at least brought them in earlier and started having this dialogue upfront."
The United States has now the highest reported number of coronavirus deaths in the world with 20,000, exceeding Italy, as the country has witnessed roughly 2,000 deaths a day reported for the last four days in a row and with more than half a million cases.
Globally, there have been more than 1.6 million confirmed cases, with the death toll surpassing 106,000.
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