Six acitve duty service members have tested positive for COVID-19, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper announced on Thursday.
Just in: Defense Secretary Mark Esper says there are 6 US service members with confirmed cases of #COVID19. Seven military dependents have also been diagnosed.
— Elizabeth McLaughlin (@Elizabeth_McLau) March 12, 2020
Earlier this week, Brig. Gen. Paul Friedrichs, Joint Staff Surgeon for the Joint Chiefs of Staff emphasized that the risk level to military operations remains low.
Pentagon says coronavirus risk to military operations is 'low'
"So to frame this from a medical standpoint, the immediate risk to our force remains low across the force, and I want to be very clear about that," Friedrichs said. "We've had a handful of cases around the world. No one is seriously ill at this point, everyone that has been diagnosed is being appropriately treated, getting the care that they need."
However, yesterday, Esper released a memo restricting travel to certain countries for 60 days for troops, family members, and DoD civilians.
Troops can't travel to these countries for the next 60 days
"The Department of Defense's top priority remains the protection and welfare of our people," Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said in the memo. "While directing this prudent action, I continue to delegate all necessary authority to commanders to make further decisions based on their assessments to protect their people and ensure mission readiness. While we deal with this fluid and evolving situation, I remain confident in our ability to protect our service members, civilians, and families."
As of Monday morning, the Department of Defense was operating 12 testing labs. Friedrichs emphasized that the number of active duty and dependents impacted by coronavirus would likely continue to change as the situation develops and testing proceeds.
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization declared coronavirus, specifically COVID-19, a pandemic. There are more than 127,000 cases confirmed worldwide and more than 4,700 deaths.
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