The commander of an American aircraft carrier confronted with a galloping coronavirus contamination has called for help in a letter with dramatic accents, asking for authorization to evacuate his crew on the island of Guam, two newspapers reported on Tuesday. Americans.
“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 the command of the US Navy and published by the San Francisco Chronicle .
Read also: Coronavirus: the United States struck at the heart
Captain Crozier explains that after the discovery of the first three cases of Covid-19 on board last week and the docking of the aircraft carrier in Guam, in the Pacific, the epidemic has continued to spread.
Citing "the inherent limited space" of a warship carrying more than 4,000 crew members, the commander noted in this letter also quoted by the New York Times that "the spread of the disease continues and it accelerates."
The entire crew is being tested and according to the San Francisco Chronicle , a hundred sailors are positive for the Covid-19. "Removing the majority of the crew of an American nuclear aircraft carrier during deployment and isolating them for two weeks may seem an extraordinary measure , " he adds. But "it is a necessary risk".
Read also: Coronavirus: the United States is now the most affected country in the world
The US Navy did not confirm the contents of this letter but confirmed that the commander of Theodore Roosevelt had "alerted Sunday evening the Pacific Fleet of its difficulties in isolating the virus".
He "asked to shelter more crew members in facilities that allow for better separation," said a US Navy official who requested anonymity. "Navy management will quickly take all measures to ensure the health and safety of the crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt and is seeking solutions to respond to the concerns of its commander," he added.
Read also: Coronavirus: Trump predicts spikes in U.S. deaths in two weeks
Questioned Tuesday on CNN, the secretary to the Navy, Thomas Modly, admitted that the American base on the island of Guam did not have "enough beds at the moment" to accommodate all the sailors of Theodore Roosevelt.
"We are in discussions with the local authorities to see if there are hotel rooms available," he added, stressing the need to continue to ensure the security of the building itself and the planes it it carries.
The alarmist call from the commander of Theodore Roosevelt contrasts with the reassuring speech of Pentagon officials in recent days. "This ship is ready to go to sea if necessary," an official of the American staff, General Jeff Taliaferro, told a group of journalists on Monday.
The Theodore Roosevelt's last stop was on March 4, when the aircraft carrier made a highly symbolic visit to the port of Danang, in Vietnam, when the Covid-19 epidemic had already spread widely in Asia. The Pentagon had then defended this visit, intended to counter China's geostrategic influence in the region, saying that there were still very few cases in the country.