Navy Officials Confirm COVID-19 Outbreak on San Diego-Based Vessel

Military officials have confirmed an outbreak of the coronavirus on the USS Makin Island, a Navy vessel that normally docks in San Diego County and is currently performing its mission off California's coast. The first positive case was confirmed on Oct. 6, according to Navy officials, while the vessel was underway.

"Personnel assigned to the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group (ARG)/15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (15th MEU), tested positive for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)," said spokesman Lt. Logan Taylor in a statement, but he emphasized that the team "remains able to meet its mission."

According to Navy officials, before service members arrive on the vessel, they're required to quarantine for two weeks. Then once they're on board, they quarantine again for another two weeks before the vessel can depart. If a sailor is confirmed positive with COVID-19, they're placed in isolation on the ship until they can be safely taken to shore, according to Cmdr. Sean Robertson, special assistant for public affairs to commander, U.S. Third Fleet.

But the total number of personnel who have contracted the virus on the USS Makin Island remains unclear – and that has raised concerns among some family members of the Marines and Navy personnel onboard.

It's always nerve-wracking for Nicole, whose last name we're not using for fear of retribution, when her husband is deployed. He's currently serving aboard the USS Makin Island. And during the coronavirus pandemic, her concerns are even more acute.

So when her husband told her there were confirmed coronavirus cases on the vessel, she was very worried.

"It's stressful and it's upsetting for me because I would do anything to change this whole situation if I could," she said. "You know, he'd be sitting next to me right now and not being put in those positions where he's susceptible to actually getting sick."

Nicole said her husband heard there were several hundred confirmed cases in a statement made over the vessel's intercom system.

Military officials have strongly disputed that number and the account, but refuse to give exact numbers. Robertson said they could not discuss confirmed positives at the "unit level" due to national security reasons.

But Nicole said she feels like they're downplaying the situation.

"I just feel like they're just trying to, like, downplay it and make it seem like it's not a big deal," she said.

Her concerns increased after she received a video from her spouse, taken during his first few days on the ship, of the conditions there. In the video, which KQED has reviewed, sailors appear to mingle in close quarters, with some of them clearly not wearing masks.

"I feel like that's why so many people that were getting sick is because people weren't wearing masks," Nicole said. "And ... you can see in the video how close quarters people were, from where they were sleeping and where they were sitting, and that there's just not a lot of space to be able to stay away from people."

Cmdr. Robertson said sailors are required to wear masks on the vessel, and are generally "self-policing" to ensure others on the ship are wearing them.

Lt. Taylor said that leadership is "committed to taking every measure possible to protect the health of our force," and that the Navy and the Marine Corps "remain in close coordination with state and federal authorities and public health authorities to ensure the well-being of our personnel."