The Navy won't let recruits' families go to their graduation ceremony because of coronavirus fears

US Marine Corps

Marines and sailors bow during the invocation for their graduation from Corporal's Course Professional Military Education on dock landing ship USS Germantown.

• The US Navy will prohibit all guests, including family members, from attending the graduation ceremony of new recruits in Great Lakes, Illinois, due to concerns over the coronavirus.
• Guests will be able to view the graduation on a Facebook livestream instead of attending the ceremony in person.
• The Navy said there were no confirmed cases of the coronavirus among its recruits.
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The US Navy will prohibit all guests, including family members, from attending the graduation ceremony for recruits in Great Lakes, Illinois, due to concerns over the coronavirus.

The Navy will "suspend guest attendance at graduation ceremonies to prevent any potential spread of COVID 19 to either Sailors of Navy families," Navy Recruit Training Command (RTC) said in a statement, using the abbreviation for coronavirus disease 19.

The new directive is scheduled to begin on March 13. Guests will be able to view the graduation on a livestream on the command's Facebook page instead of attending the ceremony in person. The Navy said it will continue to monitor to situation to determine when to lift the ban.

The Navy added that there were no confirmed cases of the coronavirus among its recruits and that incoming recruits will be screened on arrival.

The US Army implemented similar measures to screen its recruits. Army recruits will have their temperatures taken and will be asked if they are experiencing other flu-like symptoms, including coughing, sore throat, and fatigue.

"This action is being taken out of an abundance of caution, to both ensure the welfare of Sailors and that RTC can continue its essential mission of producing basically trained Sailors," RTC said in its statement. "Recruits impacted by this change are being authorized to call home to directly inform their loved ones."

Off-base outings, which are granted for the new recruits who spent eight weeks in training, will also be cancelled. The recruits will instead "report directly to their follow-on assignments," which will likely entail training for their individual occupational specialties.

The Navy has implemented other measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The US Navy's 6th and 7th fleets, responsible for European and Asia-Pacific waters, respectively, imposed a 14-day quarantine on ships between port calls in their regions.

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