Replacement U.S. Navy personnel were assigned to the USS Essex to fill in for an undisclosed number of crewmen ill with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Navy confirmed.

The amphibious assault ship left San Diego in early December with a contingent of U.S. Marines for an exercise, and returned on Monday. An unidentified sailor of the USS Essex said in an interview that replacement sailors, many from the USS Bonhomie Richard, came aboard after their arrival by hovercraft.

The USS Bonhomme Richard was devastated by a five-day fire in July in San Diego's naval harbor. The blaze sent 63 people, including 40 sailors and 23 civilians, to the hospital for smoke inhalation and caused San Diego air pollution to spike dangerously.

In November the Navy announced that the ship will be scrapped.

"Personnel assigned to the Essex Amphibious Ready Group (ARG)/5th Marine Regiment have tested positive for Coronavirus Disease2019 (COVID-19)," Navy spokesperson Lt. Nicole Schwegman said in a statement.

"Sometimes, in order to meet manning and training requirements, we cross-deck sailors, operationally hold prospective losses, utilize reservists or divert prospective gain sailors to higher priority units," she said.

Naval Medical Center San Diego received its first shipment of Pfizer coronavirus vaccines this week, the Navy reported.

Related Links
Epidemics on Earth - Bird Flu, HIV/AIDS, Ebola

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

China to start opening vaccination programme to general public
Beijing (AFP) Dec 18, 2020
China plans to start opening its vaccination programme to members of the public in southwestern Sichuan province early next year, health officials said, despite the inoculations not yet receiving official approval. At least one million people have already received a jab in China after vaccine candidates were approved for "emergency use", but so far they have been limited to priority groups such as state employees and international students. China has five coronavirus vaccines in the final stages ... read more