Pentagon sends 2,600
Europe-based personnel into
QUARANTINE after 35 test
positive for coronavirus
RT,
20 March, 2020
Thousands of US troops and military staff based in Europe have been ordered into self-isolation after at least 35 of them tested positive for Covid-19, further complicating Washington’s power projection across the Atlantic.
Some 2,600 European Command (EUCOM) troops and personnel were isolated on Friday in an effort to stem the spread of the lethal virus, following nearly three dozen positive test results. The Defense Department noted that the troops quarantined were not ill, but were isolated as a precaution due to recent travel, among other reasons.
“These individuals are not necessarily sick, but may have been exposed and are doing their due diligence following health preventative measures,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
That number includes those who may have been tested, but not positive, and those who did indeed tested positive which is 35
EUCOM
commander, US Air Force General Tod Wolters, told reporters earlier
about the positive tests, adding that all 72,000 of his troops were
taking measures to avoid further exposure to the illness.
“We're
preparing for worst-case scenarios with respect to the potential
spread,” Wolters
said in a teleconference from EUCOM headquarters in Stuttgart,
Germany. “For
months, we have embraced precautionary measures.”
The
Pentagon did not clarify how it planned to isolate the 2,600
personnel, however.
The
virus – which to date has infected some 260,000 and killed more
than 11,000 worldwide – has also forced the cancellation or
downsizing of several joint US military exercises across Europe and
Asia, including NATO’s massive ‘Defender 2020’ drill, as well
as operations with the South Korean military.
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