8 more sailors aboard U.S. Navy ship test positive for virus another time
17 May, 2020
Eight more sailors aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt have tested positive again for the coronavirus, raising to 13 the quantity who appear to have grown to be infected a second time while serving aboard the sidelined aircraft carrier.
All of the sailors had previously tested positive for the virus and had opted through at least two weeks of isolation. Before they were allowed to go back to the ship, all had to check negative twice in a row, with the tests separated by at least a day or two.
On Saturday, a Navy official confirmed eight additional sailors had tested positive again. A day earlier the Navy had said in a statement that five had tested positive another time. The Navy official had not been authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.
That some crew were testing positive again has puzzled officials and raised questions about reintegrating troops in to the military if another infection were possible.
Also questioned was the accuracy of testing itself. Occasionally infection could be at such a minimal level that it is not detected by the test, that could mean there have been no relapses. Also, people could possibly be cleared though their virus levels were too low for detection.
The outbreak aboard the Roosevelt was uncovered in March. In port in Guam since then, the ship sent a lot more than 4,000 of its 4,800 crew members ashore for quarantine or isolation. Earlier this month a huge selection of sailors began returning to the ship, in coordinated waves, to get ready to create sail again.
Source: japantoday.com