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The
Navy said the sailor was quarantined at home and that personnel
who had been in close contact with the sailor have been notified
and are in self-isolation at their homes.
"None of them is aboard the ship currently. U.S. Navy ships
conduct routine, daily cleanliness procedures geared toward
health, wellness and the prevention of communicable disease
spread," the Navy said in a statement.
The sailor had been assigned to the USS Boxer, the Navy said. A
U.S. official, however, said the ship was in port, a
substantially less risky situation than being under way at sea.
It was not immediately clear whether the sailor was sleeping on
the ship or just working onboard during the day.
The case is the latest example of how the U.S. military is
grappling with coronavirus cases around the world, from a Marine
who works at key defense agency near the Pentagon to a soldier
assigned to U.S. Army Europe Headquarters in Wiesbaden, Germany.
A dangerous virus on a warship presents particular concerns, as
sailors operate in close proximity to one another.
The Navy said the USS Boxer was conducting a thorough cleaning,
according to specific guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention and the Navy-Marine Corps Public Health
Center.
It also said the military was conducting contact tracing to
determine whether anyone else may have been in close contact
with the sailor.
"Depending on the results of that investigation, additional
mitigations may be taken," the Navy said.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Christian Schmollinger
and Gerry Doyle)
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