OUSTED Navy captain Brett Crozier has tested positive for COVID-19 just days after being fired for sounding the alarm about a coronavirus outbreak on the USS Theodore Roosevelt.

The virus diagnosis comes from two of Corizer’s Naval Academy classmates, the NY Times reported Sunday.

5 Crozier pictured here aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt in December Credit: Reuters

Capt. Crozier addressing his crew aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt in the East Pacific in December 2019 Credit: AP:Associated Press

The venerated Captain was cheered by his crew as he left his ship on Friday Credit: Reuters

The classmates, who are reportedly close with Crozier and his family, said the Navy chief began showing symptoms before his removal from the vessel.

Crozier was fired last week by the Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly.

He is now facing disciplinary action and will be "reassigned" according to his superiors, despite the Navy facing a huge backlash over the dismissal.

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, speaking on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday morning, said Modly's decision was "based on his view that he lost faith and confidence in the captain based on his action."

5

He said: “I think it's just another example of how we hold leaders accountable for their actions."

Esper told Jaker Tapper an investigation is ongoing as more than half of the sailors on the war ship have been for coronavirus.

There is a total of 155 sailors confirmed to have COVID-19 on the ship.

Crozier was slammed for sending a letter outside the chain of command while the Navy was already "fully responding."

The news of Crozier’s firing came as a video emerged of hundreds of sailors cheering the Captain as he walked off the aircraft carrier on Thursday after being relieved of duties.

Modly told reporters that he “lost confidence in [Crozier’s] ability to lead that warship.”

He said Crozier “was absolutely correct in raising” concerns about Covid-19 but “it was the way in which he did it” that “undermined” the Navy’s efforts and “created a little bit of panic on the ship.

5 Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly said on Thursday he 'lost confidence in [Crozier's], pictured, ability to lead that warship' after the letter leaked Credit: 2020 Atlas Photo Archive/US Navy/Sean Lynch

In a vicious condemnation, the President Donald Trump called the venerated Capt. Crozier's letter "terrible", "all over the place" and "not appropriate", saying he agreed "100 percent" with the ousting.

Crozier, in his letter to Navy leaders, said: “We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die.

“If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset — our sailors.”

He said that removing all but 10 percent of the ship’s 5,000-person crew was a “necessary risk” in order to stop the spread of the virus.

5 Capt. Brett Crozier warned that the coronavirus outbreak aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt was spreading among sailors Credit: KAYLIANNA GENIER/U.S. NAVY

5 The aircraft carrier pictured in the Arabian Sea Credit: EPA

The captain told bosses in Washington that action had to be taken immediately, and that as many crew should be taken off as possible to save lives — so they could be tested, isolated and treated if necessary.

“It will enable the carrier and air wing to get back underway as quickly as possible while ensuring the health and safety of our sailors,” Crozier wrote, adding that finding appropriate isolation for the crew “will require a political solution, but it is the right thing to do.”

The USS Theodore Roosevelt, a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, is, like other Navy ships, vulnerable to infectious diseases spreading given its close quarters.

However, not everyone disapproved of Crozier's actions.

Trump seems to believe that Captains shouldn't write letters Credit: AFP or licensors

More than 120,000 people have since signed a petition calling on the U.S. Navy to reinstate Crozier.

"His actions possibly saved many lives," said the Change.org petition said.

"Although he was fired, his plan to safely remove crew members was still implemented. He is a hero who should be rewarded."

Former Vice President Joe Biden told ABC's This Week on Sunday: “I think it’s close to criminal the way they’re dealing with this guy.”

“I think he should have a commendation rather than be fired."

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There are now at least 8,503 Americans who have died from COVID-19 as of April 5, with NYC accounting for more than a quarter of the country’s COVID-19 related deaths.

Across the US, the number of confirmed cases has topped 312,245.

Defense Sec. backs firing of Navy commander who warned about coronavirus outbreak as he had lost faith in him

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