WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th May, 2020) Commanders of US military bases received authorization from Defense Secretary Mark Esper to begin planning for a return to normalcy and to implement those plans once the number of novel coronavirus cases declines for 14 days and hospitals on base and nearby have sufficient the capacity and test supplies, the Defense Department said in a press release on Wednesday.
"Effective today, Secretary Esper updated guidance to commanders on changing local Force Health Protection Condition (HPCON) levels to allow bases to begin planning to return to normal operations in the COVID-19 environment. This guidance sets the considerations and processes for commanders who are seeking to adjust their local HPCON levels in a manner that will continue to protect our personnel from further spread of COVID-19 and preserve the operational readiness of our global force," the release said.
The release urged base commanders to make "deliberate, risk-based decisions" to reopen bases and renew on-base activities after ensuring COVID-19-like cases and positive test results decline for two weeks.
In addition, military and local civilian hospitals must have adequate capacity to treat coronavirus victims and have a supply of coronavirus tests to monitor the health of exposed healthcare workers, the release added.
As of Tuesday, 4,967 troops have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. In addition to 100 hospitalizations and two deaths, 1,844 service members have recovered, according to Defense Department data, as cited by the Military Times.
For the United States as a whole, more than 1.5 million people have tested positive and more than 92,000 have died from the COVID-19 disease, Johns Hopkins University reported as of Wednesday afternoon.
