Nearly a quarter of sailors assigned to USS Michael Murphy have COVID-19

Nearly a quarter of the roughly 300 sailors stationed on guided missile destroyer USS Michael Murphy have tested positive for COVID-19, causing delays in training, two U.S. military officials and a defense official told NBC News.

“Personnel assigned to USS Michael Murphy tested positive for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19), Nov. 4,” Cmdr. Nicole Schwegman, a spokesperson for Surface Forces Pacific, told NBC News.

All of those infected on the ship have been moved on shore in Hawaii and no one has been hospitalized, the officials reported. However, a caretaking crew still remains on board while more sailors finish their quarantine, according to NBC.

“Personnel who have tested positive for Covid-19 have been placed in isolation. Out of an abundance of caution, all close contacts and non-essential crew members are undergoing a two-week self-isolation period in accordance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines,” Schwegman’s state said.

The ship is also in the process of being cleaned while it’s docked in Pearl Harbor. 

The officials said that the concentration of coronavirus cases on the USS Michael Murphy was higher than previously observed outbreaks on other vessels, according to the outlet. 

Although the ship is not scheduled to be deployed before 2021, several training sessions have been pushed back as a result of the outbreak, including many that need to take place at sea.

Two new cases of COVID-19 were recently reported aboard another naval vessel, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, six months after the aircraft carrier experienced an outbreak that resulted in the firing of the ship’s captain and the resignation of the acting Navy secretary.