After one sailor tested positive for the coronavirus, about 100 members of a fighter squadron aboard the USS Gerald Ford were taken off the ship as a “precautionary measure,” US Navy officials said Friday.
The unidentified sailor is a member of the Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 213, which flies F/A-18F Super Hornet aircrafts and is based out of Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia, Stars and Stripes reported. He was never aboard the Ford but he did have contact with other squadron members who had been on the ship Tuesday.
Most of the sailors will be able to return to work Saturday, but those who had been in close contact with the sailor will be quarantining for 14 days.
“At this time, the risk to other USS Gerald R. Ford sailors and embarked personnel is believed to be very low,” Cmdr. Jennifer Cragg, a spokeswoman with Naval Air Force Atlantic, said. “All sailors who may have come into contact with the [coronavirus] positive sailor were removed from the ship, placed in a precautionary quarantine, and will be tested for [the coronavirus] prior to returning to the ship.”
Based out of Norfolk, Virginia, the USS Ford is conducting carrier qualifications for pilots in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Navy has the highest number of coronavirus cases in the military at 2,396, as of Friday, according to the Pentagon.