“We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die,” wrote Capt. Brett Crozier, commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, an aircraft carrier now docked in Guam where at least 70 personnel have tested positive for the Covid-19 coronavirus.

In a 4-page memo to Navy top brass that was obtained by the Wall Street Journal, Capt. Crozier says the close quarters of the ship makes social distancing and effective quarantine all but impossible for the 5,000 sailors on board. And that goes for all American warships.

“With the exceptions of a handful of senior officer staterooms, none of the berthing onboard a warship is appropriate for quarantine or isolation,” Capt. Crozier wrote. He wants permission for an extended docking, enough time to quarantine the ship and rid it of the virus.

The first virus cases appeared aboard the Roosevelt last week, while the ship was operating in the Pacific, and extra cleaning was ordered. While at sea, a few stricken sailors were airlifted to a hospital in Guam.

But the rapid spread of the disease made further airlifts impractical.

“The Navy had said it was flying testing supplies to the ship,” the Journal reports. “But in his memo, Capt. Crozier described the limitations of testing, saying that of the first 33 sailors tested for coronavirus, seven who tested negative displayed symptoms of infection one to three days later.”

The Journal says that as of Tuesday, 673 American service members were infected by the virus, citing Pentagon statistics.