Sailors aboard the Kidd were medically evacuated on Thursday after crew members began to exhibit symptoms of the novel coronavirus, according to a Friday news release from the US Navy.
Not long after, one sailor tested positive for the novel coronavirus, prompting the service to deploy a specialized medical team tasked with conducting “contact tracing and additional onsite testing,” the notice detailed.
As of Friday morning, 17 additional sailors had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, and officials expect to report additional cases as more crew members are screened.
“The first patient transported is already improving and will self-isolate. We are taking every precaution to ensure we identify, isolate, and prevent any further spread onboard the ship,” Rear Admiral Don Gabrielson, commander of the US Naval Forces Southern Command and the US 4th Fleet, said in the service’s release.
“Our medical team continues coordinating with the ship and our focus is the safety and well-being of every Sailor.”
The Kidd has been ordered to halt a counternarcotics mission with the US Southern Command and is now set to return to port and undergo a cleaning and disinfection process that has been performed on other afflicted US Navy ships.
While the USS Theodore Roosevelt was the first deployed warship to have a COVID-19 outbreak and suffered 840 positive cases and at least one death from the virus, a number of additional outbreaks have reportedly occurred on vessels amid the global pandemic.
According to a CNN report citing an unnamed Navy official, at least 26 ships in the service have confirmed onboard COVID-19 cases over the past several weeks. However, the source did not reveal the names of the relevant ships.
Gen. John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, announced earlier this week that the US military would begin ramping up COVID-19 testing by dividing the armed forces into four separate tiers, the first of which would include select Special Operations and nuclear forces.
According to the Pentagon, it has until June to reach its goal of having the capacity to conduct 60,000 novel coronavirus screenings per day.