Sailors left aboard the USS Roosevelt to disinfect and maintain the coronavirus-stricken aircraft carrier have limited access to personal protective equipment (PPE), forcing them to make masks out of T-shirts, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
The Department of Defense has ordered military personnel to cover their faces in situations where they cannot maintain at least six feet of distance from one another but did not widely distribute masks, multiple family members of sailors aboard the vessel told the Chronicle.
Latex gloves were distributed, but sailors aboard the Roosevelt received little else, family members told the newspaper, with a crew member saying that sailors quarantined in Guam have also been given minimal or no equipment.
“As an interim measure, all individuals are encouraged to fashion face coverings from household items or common materials, such as clean T-shirts or other clean cloths that can cover the nose and mouth area,” Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in a memo to military departments, according to the Chronicle.
“Medical personal protective equipment such as N95 respirators or surgical masks will not be issued for this purpose as these will be reserved for the appropriate personnel,” he wrote.
The order from Esper comes after Capt. Brett Crozier last week was removed from his position aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt after a letter sent to his superiors leaked to the press detailing what he saw as high-level failures to provide adequate resources to protect sailors from the COVID-19 outbreak. Crozier himself later tested positive for the coronavirus.
Following Crozier’s removal, acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly resigned after calling the captain “naive or stupid” in an address to sailors on board the vessel.
Family members of the sailors are not content with the resources they’ve been given, noting that the movement to get members of the Navy proper PPE has lost steam.
“Their jobs can put them in harm’s way at times, but they understand and prepare for those situations. This has been different,” a family member told the Chronicle, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The family member told the Chronicle that Crozier’s plea for help would lead to the sailors getting the resources they needed, but “it feels like it has lost momentum. … I do have faith they will get through this, and I know many are working hard supporting that effort.”
The Hill has reached out to the Navy for comment.