The Navy is working with officials in Guam to accommodate several USS Theodore Roosevelt crew members who have tested positive for COVID-19 and thousands more who may have been exposed, Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly told CNN Tuesday.

The carrier’s commanding officer has requested to quarantine more than 4,000 sailors, Defense One reported.

“Sailors do not need to die,” Capt. Brett Crozier wrote in a letter obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle. “If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset — our sailors,”

Modly said the Navy agreed with Crozier’s recommendation.

“We’ve been working the past several days to get those sailors off the ship and to get them into accommodations in Guam,” Modly told CNN. “The problem is that Guam doesn’t have enough beds right now, so we’re having to talk to the government there to see if we can get some hotel space or create some tent-type facilities there.”

Navy photo of Capt. Brett Crozier by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Sean Lynch