Navy jet fighter squadron pulled off USS Gerald R. Ford after sailor tests positive for COVID-19

After a Sailor popped hot for the virus, 100 members of the "Fighting Blacklions" (the strike fighter squadron) were removed from the USS Gerald Ford.

More than 100 members of the “Fighting Blacklions” strike fighter squadron were removed from the USS Gerald R. Ford this week and placed into a “precautionary restriction of movement” after a sailor tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
A sailor assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 213 was confirmed Wednesday to have the illness and remains in isolation, according to Cmdr. Jennifer Cragg with Naval Air Force Atlantic. The sailor was not on the ship, but did have contact with other members of the squadron, Cragg said in an email.




The ship embarked Tuesday as part of ongoing carrier qualifications. The following day, the sailors left the Ford and were put in the movement restriction until they complete additional medical screening and contact tracing, Cragg said. The aircraft carrier got underway Thursday from Naval Station Norfolk.




“All VFA-213 sailors were medically screened prior to embarking USS Gerald R. Ford, and none of them exhibited any influenza-like illness symptoms,” Cragg wrote. “Due to USS Gerald R. Ford’s strict COVID-19 mitigation measures, the risk of exposure or transmission to additional personnel is believed to be low.”






Officials plan to thoroughly clean squadron spaces over the next two days, she added.




The majority of members of the squadron, which is based out of Naval Air Station Oceana and flies F/A-18F Super Hornets, are expected to return to normal duty Saturday.