As COVID-19 sweeps across the South, the Army finds it's not immune
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army is facing a significant COVID-19 challenge as infection rates soar across the South and Southeast, where most of the service’s installations are located. And now the disease is having a major impact on the Army’s second-largest installation, according to a briefing obtained by Yahoo News.
The briefing, dated July 20 and prepared for senior leaders at Fort Campbell, Ky., home to the 101st Airborne Division, shows that on that day, about one in five soldiers — almost a thousand troops in total — in one of the division’s three infantry brigades combat teams were unavailable for training, either because they had tested positive for COVID-19 or because they had been in contact with someone who might have had the disease.
“There has been an impact” on the Army from the coronavirus’s surge across the parts of the country where most soldiers are located, Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Scott Dingle told an online Association of the U.S. Army audience Wednesday. “We are also experiencing the same things [as surrounding communities], but not in extremely large numbers.”
As of July 31, there were 9,276 active-duty Army personnel with COVID-19 (an increase of almost 400 in 48 hours). However, because the Defense Department forbids the Army from publicizing the number of cases in any individual unit or installation, it is almost impossible to judge how the service is handling this summer’s steep rise in cases in states like Texas and North Carolina, home to the Army’s two other most populous posts.
https://news.yahoo.com/as-covid-sweeps-across-the-south-the-army-finds-its-not-immune-090035831.html
My niece's husband is currently going through Army basic training at Fort Benning.
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