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Effectiveness of a COVID-19 Preventive Sequestration Strategy: Deployment of the Aircraft Carrier USS Ronald Reagan
Ross Mullinax1,2, Alli Krug3, Kyle Harvey1,2
1US Naval Hospital Yokosuka, Japan.
Objectives:
The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate a pre-deployment sequestration (PDS) protocol to prevent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) cases on board the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76).
Methods:
The USS Ronald Reagan includes a crew of approximately 3000 Sailors and an embarked Air Wing of 2000 personnel. The PDS was conducted in 3 waves of 14-day strict quarantines during the months of April and May 2020. Sailors were cleared to board the ship with 2 negative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (rtPCR) tests at days 14 and 16. The ship was sanitized before Wave 1 boarding.
Results:
From March 1, 2020, through May 31, 2020, a total of 51 SARS-CoV-2 positive cases were detected. During the 3 waves of PDS, 28 Sailors were found to be positive on exit testing (14, 11, and 3, respectively); no cases were found among the Air Wing. During the first 90 days at sea, no SARS-CoV-2 cases were detected among any of the embarked personnel.
Conclusions:
Although resource-intensive, the PDS protocol implemented for USS Ronald Reagan resulted in a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-free ship during a global pandemic with unprecedented scope. Elements of this pandemic PDS protocol may be useful in other highly risk-averse environments with no tolerance for COVID-19 infections.
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