Governor: 'I was aware that several sailors tested positive after earlier negative results'

Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero said she knew that some of the sailors aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt who had originally tested negative for COVID-19 later tested positive.

About 40 sailors who tested negative later had positive test results, including some who had been shuttled to Guam hotels, according to a report Friday in the San Francisco Chronicle. 

After the report was published, the governor told Pacific Daily News she knew about the situation.

"I am aware that several sailors tested positive after earlier negative results were delivered," she said in a statement. "Because of my clear mission to keep our people safe, every USS Theodore Roosevelt sailor leaving Naval Base Guam was held in a 14-day quarantine even after test results showed they were negative for COVID-19."

Both the governor and Joint Region Marianas Commander Rear Adm. John Menoni have said only sailors who test negative and who are asymptomatic would be quarantined in hotels off base. Sailors who show any symptoms of illness are taken back to the base to be tested again. 

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"It is also why a no-contact order with civilians was enforced and why any violation of this protocol is punishable under the uniformed code of military justice," the governor said Friday night. "The admiral and I take Guam’s safety seriously, and we developed a plan prepared to deal with this possibility from day one. Any sailor demonstrating symptoms during any of the twice-daily medical checks is removed from their respective hotel and returned to Naval Base."

The governor referred further inquiries to Joint Region Marianas.

The Navy reported some 655 of the crew are positive for COVID-19, as of Friday. The Navy has tested 94% of the sailors. The aircraft carrier pulled into Guam four weeks ago.

Six sailors are in the U.S. Naval Hospital Guam being treated for COVID-19 symptoms, including one sailor in ICU for increased observation due to shortness of breath. 

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One sailor from the ship has died from COVID-19 related complications.

Joint Region Marianas has yet to respond to questions about how many USS Theodore Roosevelt sailors in hotels off base later showed symptoms or tested positive. 

When asked in a press conference on Monday, Menoni declined to comment. 

"I'm not going to get into positives or negatives because we could go down a road ... go around and around about the data. And I don't have that in front of me, so I cannot really answer that question accurately," he said on Monday.

Before the sailors were moved into hotels off base, one senator and community groups voiced their opposition. 

They were concerned that the decision to move sailors into hotels put the local community at risk.

At first, Leon Guerrero and Navy officials said sailors would remain pierside. Later, officials said hotels were being prepared for sailors.

Joint Region Marianas won't disclose which hotels the sailors are housed in citing security concerns.

Sailors are told to stay in their assigned rooms for the 14-day quarantine period. At least one sailor was caught on camera violating this order and is under investigation, Menoni said Monday. The sailor didn't leave the hotel premises, but after breaking quarantine he was taken from the hotel to Naval Base Guam. 

On Tuesday the governor was asked how many sailors who tested negative and were quarantined in hotels later were taken to the base after showing symptoms. At the time she said she didn't know if that had happened.

Leon Guerrero also has daily briefings with Menoni about the status of sailors hospitalized, in isolation and the sailors in the hotels, she said.

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This article originally appeared on Pacific Daily News: Governor: 'I was aware that several sailors tested positive after earlier negative results'