https://ift.tt/zZg6EG than 20 sailors on a U.S. Navy warship — roughly 25% of the crew — have now tested positive for COVID-19, keeping the ship sidelined Monday in port at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, according to U.S. defense officials.
The USS Milwaukee has a crew of a bit more than 100, and it was forced to pause its deployment late last week because of the coronavirus outbreak. The defense officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the outbreak, said the number of infected sailors is staying relatively constant at this point.
The USS Milwaukee, a relatively small, stealthy combat ship, is the first Navy ship this year to have to interrupt its deployment at sea.
It began its deployment from Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, Florida, on December 14, and had stopped for a scheduled port visit. The ship was heading into the U.S. Southern Command region.
Another warship, meanwhile, had to postpone its movement out to sea earlier this month due to a separate outbreak. Navy Commander Sean Robertson, spokesperson for the 3rd Fleet, said the USS Halsey, a destroyer, delayed its homeport move from Pearl Harbor, in Hawaii, to San Diego because a significant number of the crew became infected with COVID-19. The ship was finally able to leave Hawaii on Sunday. The move is not a deployment, but a transfer to a new home station for the crew.
A Navy official said roughly one-third of the Halsey crew tested positive for the virus, and most had only mild symptoms or none at all. A destroyer has about 300 crew members. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details on the crew impact.
Robertson said the crew was nearly 100% vaccinated and no one was taken to the hospital. Vaccine booster shots were made available for the crew. Robertson also said some of the samples have been tested and all were the omicron variant.
The Navy said in a statement Friday that the crew of the USS Milwaukee was “100% immunized” and that all those who tested positive for COVID-19 were being isolated on the ship away from other crew members.