washington the navy the military service hit hardest by the coronavirus scrambled to contain its first atsea outbreak with at least two dozen infected aboard the uss theodore roosevelt one of 11 active aircraft carriers whose mission is central to the pentagons strategy for deterring war with china and iranthe roosevelt and its contingent of warplanes may be sidelined for days sitting pier side in guam as the entire crew more than 5000 is tested navy leaders say the carrier could return to duty at any time if required but the sudden setback is seen as a harbinger of more trouble to comethe navy is headed into choppy waters in terms of readiness in the months ahead says retired adm james stavridis a former ship commander who rose to become natos top commander in europecoronavirus outbreak complete coverageread our coronavirus live blog for all the latest news and updatesin asia a carrier presence is central to what the pentagon has identified as a fundamental shift from fighting insurgent and extremist conflicts in the middle east to a return to great power competition that means principally a bigger focus on china including its militarization of disputed areas of the south china seathe carrier like other navy ships is vulnerable to infectious disease spread given its close quarters the massive ship is more than 1000 feet long sailors are spread out across a labyrinth of decks linked by steep ladderlike stairs and narrow corridors enlisted sailors and officers have separate living quarters but they routinely grab their food from crowded buffet lines and eat at tables joined endtoendstavridis fears that berthing compartments or sleeping quarters where a dozen sailors are often packed into spaces not much larger than an average kitchen will become birthing compartments for the virusalthough the navy is much smaller than the army it accounts for at least onethird of all reported covid19 cases in the military none has been reported among navy submarine crews which are widely deployed and include subs armed with longrange nuclear missiles on constant patrolthe us pacific fleet commander adm john aquilino said in an associated press interview late thursday that its not clear how long the roosevelt will be kept in guam and that its schedule will be adjusted as needed he said no infected sailor is a critical health risk but some have been hospitalizedwere clearly interested in ensuring that the ship and the crew are healthy said aquilino speaking from his pearl harbor hawaii base but let there be no doubt the ships ready to respond if needed he said worried family members at home should know everything possible is being done for crew safetyfamily members of roosevelt sailors have been reaching out to each other on social media expressing shock and anxiety they alternately worried about their family members on the ship and their children at home sprinkling their posts with questions about local virus testing and memes about toilet paper shortages and pandemic fearsthe roosevelt had been