How the virus-stricken USS Theodore Roosevelt may help coronavirus researchers
When the coronavirus roared through the claustrophobic bowels of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, it crippled the aircraft carrier, sickened hundreds of the 4,800 sailors and ultimately ended the tenure of the Navy secretary.
But the ship’s odyssey is far from over — and the military’s biggest covid-19 crisis could yield an epidemiological gold mine as researchers worldwide race to answer questions about the virus.
At least 777 Roosevelt sailors have been infected, and the rate of asymptomatic infection is about 50 percent, the Navy said Wednesday. In contrast, the general population rate is about half that — as high as 25 percent, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said.
And now, as experts and governors are struggling to understand the role of asymptomatic transmission to hone guidance and economic recovery options, the ship infections could reveal new clues of how the virus percolates through communities, epidemiologists said.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2020/04/23/roosevelt-coronavirus-epidemiology/?arc404=true
