The U.S. Navy Is Unprepared To Handle The Covid-19 Coronavirus Pandemic

On March 25, Hospital Corpsmen 1st Class Jonathan Ivey, left, screens Ensign Mackenzie Jones for signs of the coronavirus before allowing him to board the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island (LHD 8). (US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jeremy Laramore)

Navy Times: An outbreak on a Navy warship — and an ominous sign of a readiness crisis

It started on Monday, March 16, with one chief on board the littoral combat ship Coronado feeling sick and being sent home for a few days.

Ten days later, nine Coronado sailors had tested positive for COVID-19 and more than 30 crew members are having their movements restricted — about half the crew of the small warship currently in port in San Diego.

The ship’s planned underway periods have been postponed until the outbreak is under control, according to two sources familiar with the situation.

“It was a total shit-show,” said a sailor familiar with the outbreak on Coronado. “Everybody started getting sick. I felt like the right thing to do was get everybody off the ship, test everybody whether they were sick or not. Then put the people who were fine on a barge next to the ship, bring on the people in HAZMAT suits and have the ship cleaned professionally.”

Read more ....

WNU Editor: Giving sailors buckets and bleach and told to wipe down things is not how you disinfect location.

from War News Updates https://ift.tt/343K5r1