PEARL HABOR, Hawaii - Adm. John Aquilino, commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, made the following statement today during a telephone press conference:

"As this virus spreads both throughout the entire international community and the United States my number one concern is for the safety and welfare of our Sailors and their families throughout the fleet.

"The families who are going through this at a tough time. I can’t thank them enough for their undying support to their Sailor and we will continue to ensure we take care of those Sailors, especially in this time of concern.

"Let there be no doubt, my number one priority is the health of the force. We’re taking this extremely seriously, and as this crisis came online there were three things that we have focused all our efforts around:

1. Protect the force, that is, our Sailors and their families.
2. Do everything possible not to spread the virus - that’s either to the homeland or to our allies and partners.
3. I have a mission to maintain warfighting readiness to execute the Navy’s mission.

"The situation is certainly dynamic. The entire effort of the chain of command here at the Pacific Fleet is to support all of the subordinate commanders to ensure we meet those three objectives."