Two Navy sailors tested presumptive positive for the coronavirus over the weekend, entering self-quarantine, as the Navy scrubs down ships and screens all sailors before they board Pacific vessels.
The Navy reported Sunday that a sailor assigned to the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer became the first sailor aboard a Navy ship to test positive.
On Saturday, a sailor from Naval Base San Diego also tested positive and entered self-quarantine at his home. People within close contact of the sailor are now in self-isolation while a contact investigation is underway to determine who else might have been exposed.
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A Naval representative for the U.S. Pacific Fleet confirmed to the Washington Examiner that thousands of sailors across the 7th Fleet have been screened for “influenza-type” symptoms, such as a cough, with temperature checks and travel questions, while extra hygienic measures have been taken on both the 7th and 3rd fleets, which cover the Pacific.
The USS Boxer along with other Pacific Fleet ships are conducting a thorough cleaning in accordance with CDC guidelines to prevent further transmission. Commanders are ordering wipe downs of all surfaces in common areas, and since Feb. 26 all ships have been required to be at sea for 14 days.
The official said the Boxer positive test was for a sailor who was on the ship but at pier-side.
Sailors in the Japan-deployed carrier USS Reagan, numbering up to 4,000, undergo checks each time they board the ship. In another carrier, the USS Roosevelt, an estimated 4,500 sailors were tested before they could come to shore after a recent port visit to Vietnam.
The Naval official said all forward-deployed ships at the Yokosuka Naval Base, where the Reagan and destroyers and cruisers are based, have undergone the measures.
“Every ship on the waterfront in Yokosuka,” the Navy representative said.
Sailors on a ship that recently ported in Guam prior to completing 14 days at sea were required to stay on the vessel or in port until the incubation period expired out of an abundance of caution, the representative said.
