The U.S. military is taking on more roles and responsibilities to combat COVID-19, the virus that originated in Wuhan, China, that was subsequently unleashed onto the rest of the world because of the Chinese Communist Party's inept response.
One of the most visible ways the Department of Defense is helping across the United States is through the National Guardsmen that have been activated in over 20 states. U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) recently announced active-duty personnel will also be helping in the military's response to the Wuhan coronavirus.
Today, more than 19,700 National Guard members from all 54 states, territories, and the District of Columbia continue to fight the spread of COVID-19 with federal, state and local partners. ??: https://t.co/dT0nztsmSM pic.twitter.com/rhHDfnB5yU
— National Guard (@USNationalGuard) April 3, 2020
Here is a list of what the U.S. military has done so far:
- Deployed two USNS Hospital Ships:
- Both the USNS Comfort and USNS Mercy have the ability to host up to 1,000 patients. This includes 12 operating rooms, 20 post-anesthesia beds and 80 Intensive Care Unit beds.
- Deployed three Army field hospitals
- The 627th Hospital Center from Ft. Carson, Colorado, with the ability to provide up to 248 beds, deployed to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington in support of medical efforts in the Seattle area.
- The 531st Hospital Center from Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, with the ability to provide up to 148 beds, deployed to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey in support of medical efforts in the New York City area.
- The 9th Hospital Center from Ft. Hood, Texas, with the ability to provide 136 beds, deployed to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey in support of medical efforts in the New York City area.
- Approved three Department of Defense installations to support FEMA as Base Support Installations, providing FEMA with staging and storage areas for their response operations. The approved installations are:
- Beale Air Force Base, California
- Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington
- Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey
- Identified four Incident Support Bases/Federal Staging Areas in support of FEMA COVID-19 response operations, allowing FEMA to expediently move equipment and materials to areas in which they are needed. The DoD installations include:
- Travis Air Force Base, California
- Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington
- Dover Air Force Base, Delaware
- Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey
- Activated Defense Coordinating Officers across all ten FEMA regions
- DCOs serve as the Federal Emergency Management Agency's single point of contact for Department of Defense support and coordination. They liaise between FEMA and U.S. Northern Command to assist in the flow of relief efforts to the most affected areas.
On Friday, the DoD said it was expanding medical support in New York City, New Orleans, and Dallas at its medical facilities to provide support to COVID-19 positive patients in convalescent care, as well as low-acuity patients. The patients, who require a lower level of medical care, must first be screened at a local hospital.
The USNS Comfort, which is docked in New York City, will now be screening for the coronavirus pier-side to help reduce the backlog at some of the nearby New York hospitals. The screening effort for the USNS Comfort will no longer require a negative test, but each patient will still be screened by temperature and a short questionnaire.
