In this undated photo, provided by the U.S. Navy, a sailor reacts after learning about the death of Capt. Brett Crozier in Coronado, Calif., in which his letter to Navy leaders calling for help in stopping the spread of the coronavirus was leaked. Navy officials say that they plan to meet with him to discuss the controversy over his firing. Crozier has since been relieved of duty and his former command in San Diego is under investigation. (U.S. Navy via AP) In this undated photo, provided by the U.S. Navy, a sailor reacts after learning about the death of Capt. Brett Crozier in Coronado, Calif., in which his letter to Navy leaders calling for help in stopping the spread of the coronavirus was leaked. Navy officials say that they plan to meet with him to discuss the controversy over his firing. Crozier has since been relieved of duty and his former command in San Diego is under investigation. (U.S. Navy via AP) WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is investigating the leak of a letter by the Navy’s top officer calling for urgent help in stemming the spread of coronavirus on his carrier fleet. The letter, written by the head of the Navy’s 7th Fleet, Vice Adm. Bob Harward, was posted Thursday on the website of the union that represents Navy civilian workers. It was addressed to Navy officials and urged swift action to stop the virus from spreading throughout his command, which includes U.S. Naval Forces Japan and Guam. ADVERTISEMENT “Let me be clear: This is not a hoax,” the letter said, adding that he had learned that sailors aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt had tested positive for the virus “on board” and had themselves been exposed to COVID-19. He wrote that sailors were suffering from respiratory illnesses they may have caught from someone on board the ship, although none were hospitalized at the time. “It is now clear to me that COVID-19 is one of the most severe health threat[s] our force has faced in decades,” Harward wrote. He suggested that the Navy quarantine all personnel for at least two weeks and that nonessential training should be halted, and that the entire fleet should be “surveyed” for people who should not be deployed. Senior military leaders have warned that despite the best efforts of the Navy, sailors from ships could still be exposed to the virus during operations at sea. They cautioned that thousands of troops could be exposed to the virus at once if they were called to duty in response to a worsening outbreak on land. “We’ve gotten the worst cases from the Navy,” Trump told reporters at the White House Friday. “We don’t want the Navy to get the worst cases. We want the Navy to get better cases.” Defense Department officials told The Associated Press that Navy leaders and a Navy working group are planning to meet with the admiral and that Harward was not in the meeting at the time of the leak of his letter. Navy spokesman Capt. Christopher Harrison confirmed that investigation was underway. The union representing Navy civilians criticized the leak, saying it’s not the responsibility of individual military officers to determine how ships’ crews will be affected by the virus. ADVERTISEMENT “The leak and publication of Admiral Harward’s letter is a violation of Navy regulations and protocol,” wrote James Carwile, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, in a letter to Admiral Gilday, the Chief of Naval Operations. “Navy leadership does not have a plan for a complete force drawdown as part of any of their scenarios. Their focus remains on keeping the force prepared and ready to conduct missions as directed.” The Navy has acknowledged that coronavirus exposure aboard the carrier — and other vessels — could spread rapidly as hundreds of thousands of troops prepare to ship out of ports and to sea over the next several weeks. Navy Secretary Richard Spencer, who is overseeing the response of the military to the coronavirus outbreak, was asked at the Pentagon’s Coronavirus Task Force news briefing Friday how worried the country was about this developing. “Well, if the number of cases going forward continues to remain in that exponential rise, we are headed towards a pandemic,” Spencer said. “And once that happens we are going to be in a world of hurt.” ___ Rachel Lerman contributed to this report. ___ Follow AP news coverage of the pandemic at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.