Widespread testing on the Navy’s coronavirus-stricken aircraft carrier has revealed a majority of the confirmed cases are asymptomatic — showing how the bug can spread by “stealth” among the young and otherwise-healthy, according to officials.
The results on the USS Theodore Roosevelt could raise policy questions around how to safely reopen the country, officials said.
“It has revealed a new dynamic of this virus: that it can be carried by normal, healthy people who have no idea whatsoever that they are carrying it,” Defense Secretary Mark Esper said during a Thursday appearance on NBC’s “Today.”
About 94% of the 4,800-member crew has now been tested for the virus.
A total of 60% of 600 confirmed sick sailors aboard the boat have not shown any symptoms yet, the Navy found. The service didn’t speculate as to how many of those patients could later fall ill.
Tests in the US have primarily been reserved for more severely ill patients, making it difficult to gauge the number of sick asymptomatic cases still out there.
“With regard to COVID-19, we’re learning that stealth in the form of asymptomatic transmission is this adversary’s secret power,” said Rear Admiral Bruce Gillingham, surgeon general of the Navy.
The Navy’s results are higher than previous estimates from Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who forecast that anywhere between 25-50% of people who contract the virus will show no symptoms.
The coronavirus outbreak on the Theodore Roosevelt became a lightning rod for controversy after its captain, Brett Crozier, raised an alarm to Navy brass that was leaked to the press.
He was relieved of his command as a result, and the Navy’s acting Secretary, Thomas Modly, then resigned after saying Crozier was either “too naive or too stupid” for the job.
With Post wires