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Naval Base Point Loma sailor tests positive for COVID-19 as local bases scramble to curb spread

The Los Angeles-class submarine attack USS Key West (SSN 722) arrives at Naval Base Point Loma for a scheduled maintenance availability. She is the third Navy ship to be named for Key West, Fla. and is a member of Submarine Squadron 15 (CSS-15) in Apra Harbor, Guam. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Derek Harkins/U.S. Navy)

A sailor at Naval Base Point Loma tested positive for COVID-19, the Navy announced late Monday.

The sailor tested positive on Sunday after self-reporting that he had close contact with someone else who tested positive. He is in self-isolation at his residence, the Navy said in a statement.

The sailor is asymptomatic, according to Brian O’Rourke, a Navy Region Southwest spokesman.

He is the third sailor and fifth active-duty service member in San Diego to test positive. The others are a sailor at Naval Base San Diego, a sailor on the amphibious assault ship Boxer and two Marines at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.

According to the Navy’s statement Monday, military health professionals are conducting a contact investigation to identify any other military personnel possibly exposed — as in other cases, “additional precautionary measures may be taken,” the statement says.

In other cases, military members potentially exposed have been asked to self-quarantine or, in the case of the Marines, move into an on-base barracks set aside for this very purpose.

The Navy announced late Saturday that area naval bases will take extra precautions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Those include screening base visitors and travelers at base air terminals with health questionnaires and providing cleaning products and hand sanitizers to high-traffic areas.

Both the Marine Corps and the Navy are executing “no-touch” ID checks at base entrances as well as offering work-from-home options to those on base who qualify.

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© 2020 The San Diego Union-Tribune