New COVID-19 cases on US carrier despite extensive screening

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Agence France-Presse

15 May 2020 - 06:54
BY AFP

Five US sailors have been evacuated with coronavirus from an aircraft carrier despite extensive screening as the warship prepares its return to sea following a major outbreak, a US official confirmed Thursday.

After testing positive but asymptomatic, the five spent two weeks in quarantine in Guam where the nuclear-powered USS Theodore Roosevelt is docked, the official said, confirming a New York Times report.

After each registered negative twice in subsequent tests, they were permitted back aboard the ship.

But they were later retested and again found positive.

Read more: https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/world/2020-05-15-new-covid-19-cases-on-us-carrier-despite-extensive-screening/

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. Screening doesn't prevent anything.

It only tells you if someone has been infected.

[SheltieLover]

2. K&R!

[SunSeeker]

3. Holy shit. They were reinfected when they returned to the ship!

After each registered negative twice in subsequent tests, they were permitted back aboard the ship. 

But they were later retested and again found positive.

[Blues Heron]

6. or - more likely -they relapsed

[nitpicker]

4. Maybe they used Abbott tests on them?

It's one possible explanation.

[oldsoftie]

5. This shits just gonna be around from here on out. Thats just the way it is.

Come up with treatments. Waiting on a vaccine is a weak wish. Even the flu vaccine only protects maybe 1/2 of who gets it. Getting good treatments will become more important and effective in reducing the number of deaths.

[FailureToCommunicate]

7. Fomites are pesky things. On a ship, they are likely ANY surface.

[Igel]

8. Or they had dead degraded virus that hadn't been cleared from their bodies.

Reinfection is something that has been widely suspected but every time it's been double checked it's come back negative. Yes, they test positive; no, they're not infected or contagious.

[patphil]

9. That's pretty bad news.

Either the test that was used is pretty much useless, or the virus in asymptomatic patients can flare up after a dormant period.

In either event, it doesn't bode well for our navy. Navel vessels are the perfect breeding ground for the virus...thousands of sailors in a steel ship with nearly infinite places for the virus to hang out on surfaces for days.