US Nuclear Aircraft Carrier Crew Member Dies from COVID-19

First Death Reported on Theodore Roosevelt Amid Captain Dismissal Controversy
French Charles de Gaulle Also Reports Infections, Returns Urgently

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] On the 13th (local time), the first death due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) occurred on the U.S. aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt.

Amid the chaos caused by COVID-19 on the aircraft carrier, a key force of the U.S. Navy, which led to the dismissal of the ship's captain and the resignation of the acting Secretary of the Navy amid controversy, the worst-case scenario of combat power being impaired not by battle but by an infectious disease has become a reality.

US nuclear aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt docked in Guam
[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

According to CNN, the U.S. Navy announced in a statement that on the 9th, a crew member who had been admitted to the intensive care unit at a hospital in Guam died from complications related to the coronavirus.

The crew member tested positive for COVID-19 on the 30th of last month and was quarantined along with four other military personnel at the U.S. Navy base in Guam. On the 9th, he was found unconscious and transferred to the ICU but never regained consciousness.

Among the approximately 4,800 crew members of the Roosevelt, 585 had tested positive for COVID-19 as of the previous day. About 4,000 crew members left the ship and were quarantined after landing in Guam.

So far, about 900 personnel across the entire U.S. Navy have tested positive for COVID-19, and this is the first case of a crew member dying in the Navy due to the virus, specifically on the Roosevelt. CNN reported that about 3,000 members of the entire U.S. military have been infected with COVID-19, with two deaths.

Crew members are being evacuated from the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, where COVID-19 broke out. [Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

The outbreak of COVID-19 on aircraft carriers is not a problem unique to the United States. The French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle also showed symptoms of COVID-19 infection in about 50 crew members, prompting an emergency return to port to disembark and quarantine the crew.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.