More than 1,000 crew members of nearly 4,900 ship members had tested positive since the outbreak on board the ship in March.
The Navy had instituted several screening procedures to allow those who had recovered to return to the ship after two negative tests.
The official said that one of the sailors suddenly started showing symptoms on their return and the other four who tested positive had been in the immediate vicinity of that sailor.
Another 18 sailors who were also in close proximity to those who had tested positive were taken away from the ship for “an abundance of cautions,” the official said.
The official said the initial suggestion is that the new cases could be the result of a testing problem rather than a new outbreak.
After evacuating around 4,000 sailors from the ship to Guam, the Navy was returning the sailors to Roosevelt after a period of quarantine and isolation in hopes of bringing the aircraft carrier to the sea as soon as possible.
Request in progress
Last month the Navy announced that it had launched a larger investigation into the circumstances surrounding the outbreak, effectively delaying its initial recommendation to restore the ship’s commanding officer.
The announcement came a few days after Defense Secretary Mark Esper refused to immediately support the original Navy investigation into the matter, which included a recommendation to restore Captain Brett Crozier.
US officials told CNN that senior Navy officials had recommended Crozier’s reinstatement, but Esper was not ready to immediately support that recommendation and a larger investigation was launched the following week.
Crozier was fired for what Navy Secretary Thomas Modly, who was acting at the time, judged inappropriate for spreading a warning too widespread among Navy officials about the spread of the virus on board his ship, a warning that was eventually made way in the press.
While Modly publicly accused Crozier of sending his warning letter to 20-30 people, the email to which the letter was attached shows that Crozier sent it to 10 people including his immediate supervisor, according to a copy of the email obtained from the Washington Post.
“I think if there is ever time to ask for help, it is now independent of the impact on my career,” Crozier wrote in his email, the contents of which were confirmed directly by CNN by an American official who is familiar with the message.
A few days later he resigned from the way he handled the incident, actions that included a $ 240,000 trip to Guam, where he slammed Crozier and warned the sailors for giving Crozier a bouncy referral in public comments to the crew.
This story has been updated with an additional background.
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