"7. Conclusion. Decisive action is required. Removing the majority of personnel from a deployed US. nuclear aircraft carrier and isolating them for two weeks may seem like an extraordinary measure. A portion of the crew (approximately 10%) would have to stay aboard to run the reactor plant, sanitize the ship, ensure security, and provide for contingency response to emergencies. This is a necessary risk. It will enable the carrier and air wing to get back underway as quickly as possible while ensuring the health and safety of our Sailors. Keeping over 4,000 young men and women on board the TR is an unnecessary risk and breaks faith with those Sailors entrusted to our care... This will require a political solution but it is the right thing to do. We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die. If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset our Sailors. Request all available resources to find NAVADMIN and CDC compliant quarantine rooms for my entire crew as soon as possible."
One might suspect perhaps he saw the spread of COVID-19 rapidly in other test template environments...on the Diamond Princess here berthed in Japan (one big clusterf with I think 10 now dead and hundreds infected), the Grand Princess in California, etc etc. Who knows, maybe he ran the numbers from the DP as a simulation, and correctly noted in such a cramped naval situation, the ship's CV-19 outbreak had a basic reproduction number of 14.8; much higher than the usual 2–4.
The avg age of those succoming to the virus is about 80 with great majority having serious pre existing medical issues.
The avg age of a carrier crew would be well under 30 with the huge majority having no serious medical conditions.
I am interested in navair and read several forums. The sentiment of the Navy pilots is that he was going to get ax’d anyway either due to a large amount of seamen dying or due to making a public stink, so he chose an option where people under him don’t die.
A point often brought up is that carriers have central air that can’t be turned off, so viruses spread very quickly there.