Roughly 900 members of the military have been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus — nearly tripling the amount from a week ago, Pentagon officials said Thursday.
Of the 893 current cases among service members, 35 remain hospitalized for COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus, while 59 have recovered. On Friday, 309 cases had been reported with 12 service members hospitalized and 34 recovering, according to figures released by the Department of Defense.
The figures are equally stark for Department of Defense civil service employees and military dependents. As of Thursday, there were 306 current cases of coronavirus — an increase from 134 a week ago — and 256 for military family members, up from 108 on Friday, officials said.
The Pentagon said 95 contract employees have been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, up from 62 last week. The deaths include a member of the military, two civilian employees, a military dependent and a contractor.
The total number of coronavirus cases throughout the Department of Defense is 1,638. The figure includes current cases, those who have recovered and deaths. Last week, that total was 652, officials said.
Contact the author
Please read our comment policy before commenting.