Washington, Apr 7: The US Department of Defense has deployed 40,000 of its personnel, including 4,000 medics, to support the efforts to combat the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) across the United States, spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said during a briefing.
“[Forty-thousand] service members are deployed to support COVID-19 operations, including nearly 4,000 medical personnel,” Hoffman told reporters. “Additionally, we have 15,000 Army Corps of Engineers personnel supporting efforts.”
Hoffman noted that the US military has built 22 field hospitals and alternate care sites in 18 states.
The National Guard allocated to the anti-COVID-19 campaign 21,000 of its service members who run testing sites, man food banks and unload grocery trucks across the country.
Hoffman also said that last weekend the Secretary of Defense Mark Esper ordered that all personnel on military installations wear masks when interacting less than six feet away from each other.
The United States has 352,942 COVID-19 cases with 10,524 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
(AGENCIES)
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