COVID-19 cases on USS Theodore Roosevelt rise to 550: Navy

The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) transits the Pacific Ocean, on April 7, 2017.(Credit: U.S. Navy)

The ship's whistleblower captain Brett Crozier sounded alarm over the outbreak when only dozens of sailors had tested positive for the virus. He was later relieved of duty.

WASHINGTON, April 12 (Xinhua) -- The number of COVID-19 cases on USS Theodore Roosevelt, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, has risen to 550, the U.S. Navy said on Saturday.

In an update, the U.S. Navy said 92 percent of the USS Theodore Roosevelt crew members have been tested for COVID-19, with 550 positive and 3,673 negative results, and that a total of 3,696 sailors have moved ashore.

The data came some two weeks after the ship's captain Brett Crozier sounded alarm over the outbreak when only dozens of sailors on the ship had tested positive for the virus.

Potrait of Brett Crozier, the commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier. (Credit: U.S. Navy)

In doing so, Crozier was relieved of his command by then-acting Secretary of the U.S. Navy Thomas Modly, who himself resigned later after his remarks lashing out at the captain backfired.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has said that a reinstatement of Crozier is not off the table, and that no decision will be made until an investigation is complete.

"We've taken nothing off the table. What I look to do is hear from the chain of command. My inclination is always to support the chain of command and to take their recommendation seriously," Esper told CBS This Morning on Friday.

The U.S. Navy has reported 945 cases and four deaths across the branch, according to Saturday's update. ■