Nearly 1,000 sailors from the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier have tested positive for the coronavirus.
One sailor from the ship has died from COVID-19. With 940 confirmed cases as of Tuesday, about one-fifth of the carrier's 4,800 sailors have now been infected.
This news comes as the Navy is considering reinstating the ship's captain, who was fired after sounding the alarm.
In late March, Capt. Brett Crozier wrotesenior military officials about a small outbreak on the ship that was worsening. He said: "The spread of the disease is on going and accelerating" and asked for sailors to be quarantined on shore in Guam.
The letter's disclosure in the media got Crozier fired for not following the chain of command. And in a speech to sailors on ship, Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly blasted the captain as "too naive or too stupid" to be in charge. The ensuing uproar led Modly to resign.
The Navy has recommended Crozier's reinstatement as ship commander.
Many sailors from the Roosevelt have been quarantined in hotels near the U.S. Naval Base in Guam.
Meanwhile, COVID-19 cases are spiking on another ship, the destroyer USS Kidd. As of Tuesday, it reported more than 60 infected sailors among its crew of 900.
The Navy has more than 1,700 total coronavirus cases, more than any other military branch.
