U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier Prevents Outbreak at Sea in Midst of COVID-19

The USS Harry S Truman Strike Group deployed from Norfolk, VA in November 2019 with a crew of 5,461 personnel and successfully returned to home port in June 2020 with zero cases of COVID-19.

Senior Medical Officer's observations and description of the evolution of the pandemic, impact to the crew of the USS Harry S Truman, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, and the public health principles and outbreak prevention protocols used to prevent an outbreak at sea.

The USS Harry S Truman Carrier Strike Group was composed of 4,810 personnel from Carrier Strike Group 8, Harry S Truman, Destroyer Squadron 28, and Carrier Air Wing One. The medical department of 52 personnel was made up of doctors, physician assistants, nurses, independent duty corpsman, and hospital corpsman. Our escorts were one destroyer, crew size 308 and one cruiser, crew size 343, each with one independent duty corpsman and one hospital corpsman for medical staff. The total number of personnel was 5,461, all of whom returned to home port with no cases of COVID-19.

Outbreak with a respiratory pathogen in the shipboard environment could debilitate a crew and decrease mission effectiveness of a US Navy warship with implications to national security. Prevention of an outbreak at sea requires identification and mitigation of vulnerabilities, testing capability for identification of the pathogen, preparation for quarantine and isolation for immediate containment, and commitment from the entire crew for success.