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Navy Destroyer Returning to Port After Crew Hit by Coronavirus

Navy Destroyer Returning to Port After Crew Hit by Coronavirus

(Bloomberg) -- The destroyer USS Kidd will return to port after some of its crew tested positive for the novel coronavirus, Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said Friday.

A sailor tested positive for Covid-19 after being flown off the ship, and some of the crew will be removed from the vessel, Hoffman said at a Pentagon briefing. The Navy, “using lessons learned from other cases,” responded quickly and flew a specialized medical evaluation team onto the Kidd to conduct testing, he said.

Navy Destroyer Returning to Port After Crew Hit by Coronavirus

“As of this morning, 17 additional sailors have tested positive. Testing continues, and we expect additional cases,” the Navy said in a statement.

The Kidd was on a counternarcotics mission in the Caribbean, according to Reuters. The vessel is based at Naval Air Station Everett in Washington state, according to a Defense Department website.

The outbreak on the Kidd was disclosed as the Navy is readying its decision on whether to restore the ousted captain of the USS Roosevelt, which is sidelined in Guam after Covid-19 swept through the carrier. The Navy has reported 840 positive cases on the Roosevelt.

The carrier’s captain, Brett Crozier, was dismissed by then-acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly for writing a memo warning the service about the potentially dire situation aboard the carrier and demanding faster action.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper will meet Friday with Admiral Mike Gilday, the chief of naval operations, to receive the Navy’s report about whether to restore Crozier to his post, Hoffman said.

“He’s going into this with an open mind, and he is generally inclined to support Navy leadership and their decisions,” Hoffman said of Esper.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.