With 52 service members testing positive for coronavirus on Monday, a 0.8-percent rise, the Defense Department saw one of its lowest day-over-day increases since February, and an almost equal number of recoveries, with 45 troops cleared of COVID-19 on the same day.
Overall, the services have reported 4,265 cases and 1,303 recoveries, for a 31-percent recovery rate so far.
Recovery is defined as a week symptom-free, a normal body temperature without the use of fever reducers and two negative coronavirus tests taken at least 24 hours apart.
Throughout the services, the infection rate is now 2,030-per-million, or 0.2 percent.
Among U.S. residents, the number of cases continues to rise by tens of thousands per day, for a current rate of 2,929-per-million, or just under 0.3 percent.
Of the 52 new cases reported Monday, more than 60 percent came from the Navy, which is working to contain a second outbreak aboard a deployed ship. About 50 sailors from the destroyer Kidd had tested positive, the Navy said in a statement Monday, with 45 percent of the crew tested.
A handful of nuclear, counter-terror and training units are also doing 100-percent testing, to get a better handle the rate of asymptomatic infection in key organizations.
The Navy is now reporting a total of 1,691 COVID-19 cases, followed by 998 in the Army, 351 in the Air Force, 308 in the Marine Corps and 801 in the National Guard.
Of those cases, 91 have been hospitalized and two troops have died.
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In total, DoD is tracking 6,548 cases, including civilians, dependents and contractors. The 355 new cases on Monday represented a roughly 6-percent bump, one of the lowest 24-hour increases since cases started popping up in February.
There are currently 1,091 civilians who have tested positive for coronavirus, up nine cases or 0.8 percent over the past day. Of those, 91 have been hospitalized and 14 have died, for a 1-percent mortality rate.
Dependents saw the biggest bump on Monday, with 865 current cases, up from 850 ― about 2 percent ― from the previous day. Of those, 33 have been hospitalized and four have died, a 0.5-percent mortality rate.
Four new cases in contractors, up from 423 to 427, show a 0.9-percent increase. Of those, 61 have been hospitalized and seven had died, a 0.9-percent mortality rate.
Meghann Myers is the Pentagon bureau chief at Military Times. She covers operations, policy, personnel, leadership and other issues affecting service members.
