The coronavirus has struck twice for some aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt.
Five sailors on the ship, which was the center of media attention after a large outbreak, have left the aircraft carrier for a second time after testing positive for COVID-19. They had previously been in isolation after testing positive for the virus but went back to work after self-isolating for two weeks and testing negative.
The military and scientists are still trying to understand how the virus works and its apparent ability to strike more than once in a small number of people. The Navy said in a statement that the five sailors in question were immediately taken from the ship and placed back into quarantine.
“These five sailors developed influenza-like illness symptoms and did the right thing reporting to medical for evaluation,” the Navy said.
The five new cases add to the complexities of how the Defense Department should handle people who have previously tested positive for COVID-19. There has been pushback on the military’s current policy of barring those who have been hospitalized with the coronavirus from enlisting.
Almost 1,000 sailors on the Roosevelt tested positive for the coronavirus as a result of the much-publicized outbreak. When the outbreak began, then-Capt. Brett Crozier sent a letter expressing concern for the sailors to multiple people in a move that officials said was meant to result in media coverage. Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly later resigned after he gave a profanity-laden speech to Crozier’s former sailors that was leaked.
