A Navy Reserve sailor in Ohio died earlier this month from complications related to COVID-19, the service announced on Thursday.
Logistics Specialist 2nd Class Abdigafar Salad Warsame, 52, was assigned to Navy Operational Support Center (NOSC) Columbus, Ohio, according to a statement from the Navy Reserve. His home of record was in Georgia, according to his official biography.
Warsame, originally from Somalia, according to Stars and Stripes, had joined the Navy Reserve in 2002.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends and coworkers of the sailor during this extremely difficult time. We ask all sailors to continue to practice COVID-19 mitigation protocols, and report any symptoms immediately to their chain of command and local medical providers,” Navy spokesman Cmdr. Ben Tisdale told USNI News in a statement.
Warsame is the second reservist and the third sailor overall to die from complications of COVID-19. Builder 2nd Class Nathan Huff Bishop, 33, a U.S. Navy Reserve sailor assigned to Navy Operational Support Center (NOSC) Akron, Ohio, died on Dec. 1. In April, Chief Petty Officer Charles Robert Thacker Jr., 41, died in a hospital in Guam after contracting the virus while serving aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71).
Since the start of the pandemic, the service has seen a cumulative total of 27,368 cases in sailors, with 3,730 active cases as of Thursday, according to data from the service. Its civilian workforce has a cumulative total of 10,965 cases since the start of the pandemic and 2,532 active cases, with a total of 22 deaths from complications related to the infection.
Across the military, the Pentagon reports 132,917 total infections, 1,287 troops currently hospitalized, 85,928 recovered and 12 deaths, according to a Friday morning report from the Department of Defense.
