The U.S. naval commander whose widely publicized plea for help for his coronavirus-affected crew led to his dismissal has been reportedly tested positive himself for the disease. 

Captain Brett Crozier's COVID-19 test result was reported Sunday by the New York Times, just hours after U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper defended the captain's firing. 

Esper told ABC that Navy Secretary Thomas Modly had "made a tough decision, tough call" in deciding to fire Crozier from his command of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, now docked in Guam.

The firing was widely condemned as a callous and unfair punishment of a respected officer who was looking out for the welfare of his crew when he implored his superiors to let him quickly vacate the ship after it docked in Guam. 

Crozier had sent a letter detailing the COVID-19 threat on his ship and pleading for help from the leadership. That letter was later leaked to news media.

"We are not at war," Crozier wrote in the letter. "Sailors do not need to die." But some senior Pentagon officials said Crozier erred by letting his plea go public. 

President Donald Trump, speaking in a news conference Saturday, supported the dismissal. "He shouldn't be talking that way in a letter," he said of Crozier. "I thought it was terrible what he did." 

The Times, in reporting Crozier's test result, cited two of his former classmates at the U.S. Naval Academy. It said he had begun exhibiting symptoms before leaving the ship on Thursday. 

U.S. Navy sailors cheered and applauded their former commander as he disembarked from the aircraft carrier.

Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly fired Crozier for "creating panic" and "demonstrating extremely poor judgment" during a crisis by distributing the letter to as many as 30 people.

The Navy ship is docked in Guam. According to AP, up to 3,000 sailors are expected to be taken off the ship to be quarantined. 

Esper said Sunday an investigation into Crozier's actions is ongoing. "All the services at times relieve commanders without the benefit of an investigation up front because they've lost confidence in them. It's certainly not unique to the Navy," he said on CNN's "State of the Union" program.

The secretary also said that there have been 155 confirmed COVID-19 cases among sailors on board the carrier, that more than half of the crew have been tested, and that there have been no hospitalizations. 

Check out The China Report, our new weekly newsletter. Subscribe here!

(With input from AFP, Xinhua)