Number of infected crew on U.S. aircraft carrier rises to 155: Navy

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The number of crew on the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier who have tested positive for the coronavirus has risen 13% in the past 24 hours to 155, the Navy said on Saturday, in the wake of the firing of the carrier’s captain.

The Navy said 44% of the carrier’s nearly 5,000-strong crew had been tested and 1,548 sailors from the crew have moved ashore. None of the infected sailors have been hospitalized, it said in a statement

Captain Brett Crozier was relieved of his command of the Theodore Roosevelt on Thursday after the public leak of a scathing letter in which he called on the Navy for stronger action to halt the spread of the virus aboard the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Daniel Wallis)