In its largest day-over-day jump since the pandemic began, the Defense Department reported 245 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Friday, bringing the total diagnoses among troops to 2,031.
The Pentagon also reported five new deaths, bringing the number of fatalities up to 13 total, more than double what they were a week ago.
Two civilians, two contractors and the department’s first dependent are among the latest casualties. The death of an Army spouse reported in March turned out to be unrelated to coronavirus.
The new count puts the department’s death rate at 0.4 percent, versus the overall U.S. mortality rate of 3 percent.
The Navy continues to report the most cases of COVID-19, as health officials on Guam wrapped up testing all 4,800 aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt sailors on Friday. More than 400 of the Navy’s 741 cases have originated on that ship, including 144 reported since yesterday. Those new confirmed cases from the Roosevelt accounted for more than half of the total new cases among troops since Thursday.
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The Army has reported 411 confirmed cases, the Air Force 256 and the Marine Corps 173, as well as 407 airmen and soldiers serving in the National guard. According to DoD’s data, 41 more cases have been confirmed but haven’t been reported by the services.
The military’s infection rate now stands at 971-per-million, compared with the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention numbers, which shows 1,307-per-million U.S. residents having contracted coronavirus, or about 0.1 percent of U.S. residents.
Of those infected troops, 67 are hospitalized and 177 have recovered. Among the DoD civilians, 47 of 493 are hospitalized, including 48 recovered, while 17 out of 325 dependents are hospitalized and 56 recovered, and 15 of 205 contractors are hospitalized while 18 have recovered.
Meghann Myers is the Pentagon bureau chief at Military Times. She covers operations, policy, personnel, leadership and other issues affecting service members.
