Navy identifies 15th sailor killed by COVID-19

A Navy sailor who died of coronavirus-related complications earlier this month has been identified as Master-at-Arms Senior Chief Michael Haberstumpf.

Haberstumpf, 42, of Whispering Pines, N.C., died Oct. 10 at UNC Medical Center in Chapel Hill, N.C., due to COVID-19–related complications, the Navy said in a Wednesday statement.

A husband and father to two sons, he tested positive for the coronavirus on Sept. 2 and was hospitalized Sept. 9. 

Haberstumpf had been assigned to Joint Special Operations Intelligence Brigade in Fort Bragg, N.C.

“We will continue to support his family and shipmates during this difficult time,” the Navy said in the statement.

The release did not say whether he had received any COVID-19 vaccines, which active-duty Navy sailors are required to have done in full by Nov. 28. Reserve sailors, meanwhile, have until Dec. 28.

As of Wednesday, about 93 percent of active-duty sailors are fully vaccinated, while 78 percent of reserve sailors are fully immunized — a combined 90 percent of the total force, according to Navy data.

Since the start of the pandemic, there have been more than 381,00 reported cases of coronavirus among service members — including more than 84,000 in the Navy — and 70 individuals have died as a result of the illness, according to Pentagon data.