United States: call for help of an aircraft carrier commander confronted with coronavirus

Nearly 4,000 sailors make up the crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt. Paul L. ARCHER / US NAVY / AFP

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Brett Crozier wrote a letter to the command of the US Navy requesting authorization to evacuate his crew on the island of Guam, in the western part of the Pacific Ocean. The Pentagon refuses to do so for the moment.

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“ We are not at war. There is no reason for sailors to die, "wrote Captain Brett Crozier, commanding officer USS Theodore Roosevelt, in a four-page letter to US Navy command.

No evacuation

He implores the command of the Navy to authorize the placement in quarantine on shore, of the immense majority of the 4,000 crew members of the nuclear aircraft carrier. And to leave on board only the personnel essential to the safety of the ship and its fitting out. A risky but necessary decision, he thinks, in the face of the uncontrollable spread of the Covid-19 .

This letter, the Secretary of Defense of the United States admits not having read in detail. On the CBS channel, Mark Esper has swept away any idea of ​​evacuating the aircraft carrier, docked in Guam in the Pacific.

Three sailors tested positive last week, around 100 today. And in a limited space, social distancing is impossible.

" We are sending the ship to Guam a lot of equipment and medical staff, " said Mark Esper. I am happy to report that no one is seriously ill. We try to contain the virus, we send out tests to find out what proportion of the crew is infected and then of course we take other measures to ensure that the ship is ready to continue its mission . ”

Over 4,000 dead in the United States

The last stopover of the USS Theodore Roosevelt dates back to March 4 in the port of Danang in Vietnam. The Pentagon maintains that this country had few cases of Covid-19 at the time, which justified not canceling this highly strategic visit.

The number of deaths from the coronavirus epidemic in the United States has exceeded 4,000, a figure doubled in three days, announced Wednesday the American University Johns Hopkins, whose assessments are authoritative.

The White House presented its projections: according to it, the disease should make between 100,000 and 240,000 deaths in the United States with current restrictions, against 1.5 to 2.2 million without any measure.

(with AFP)

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  • Coronavirus
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