Nearly 3,000 service members have been diagnosed with COVID-19, according to the Defense Department’s latest data, with about 2,300 cases still active and almost 1,000 new cases added in each of the last two weeks.
With 2,986 cases among troops, the military’s infection rate now stands at 1,421-per-million, or 0.14 percent. That’s compared to the overall U.S. rate of 1,932-per-million, or 0.2 percent.
The Navy saw its cases rise above 1,000 this week, hitting 1,017 on Friday. Much of that surge has come from 100-percent testing aboard the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, which has been pierside in Guam for nearly two weeks following an outbreak.
Of 4,800 sailors on board, about 4,500 had been tested as of Friday morning. Of 660 positive tests, more than half have come from asymptomatic sailors, senior Pentagon leadership confirmed this week.
The other services’ COVID-19 counts continue to grow steadily as well. The Army added 315 cases this week, coming to 726, an increase of 77 percent. The Air Force now sits at 328 cases, up 28 percent over the week, while the Marine Corps grew 34 percent, to 236 cases.
The National Guard, which has roughly 30,000 airmen and soldiers deployed in support of local pandemic response efforts, saw its cases grow 49 percent this week, to 609 as of Friday morning.
Of troops diagnosed with COVID-19, 88 have been hospitalized and 669 have recovered. Two deaths include a New Jersey National Guard soldier and a chief assigned to TR.
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Overall, DoD cases grew 44 percent this week, totaling 4,849 cases when including civilians, dependents and contractors.
Civilian cases jumped from 493 last Friday to 837 a week later, a 70 percent increase. Of those, 69 have been hospitalized and 180 have recovered, in addition to nine deaths.
Cases among dependents more than doubled over the week, from 325 last Friday to currently 375. Of those, there have been 24 hospitalizations, 161 recoveries and three deaths.
And in contractors, cases also spiked, growing 71 percent to 351 as of Friday. Of those, 44 have been hospitalized, 49 have recovered and five have died.
Meghann Myers is the Pentagon bureau chief at Military Times. She covers operations, policy, personnel, leadership and other issues affecting service members.
