Vice Adm. Phillip Sawyer has designated Naval Base Guam as one of the Navy’s “safe haven” ports amidst the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Sawyer is the Navy’s operations chief in charge of its COVID-19 response.
Military.com reports that Sawyer told reporters on June 1 that Guam has been designated as a safe haven “where ships can pull into port and sailors can enjoy free time without a big risk that they’ll bring the novel coronavirus back onto the vessel.”
The Navy is also working on safe-haven ports in the Mediterranean and in the Middle East, Sawyer said.
Guam has already served as a ‘safe haven’ port when the the USS Blue Ridge pulled into Guam for what the Navy at that time said was a “Safe Haven Liberty” port visit on June 11.
The Navy says that ‘safe haven’ port visits are designed to provide the necessary mental and physical relaxation that a crew needs in order to better perform their jobs while mitigating the risk of contracting COVID-19.
