Against the backdrop of the mass spread of coronavirus in the United States, the US military is forced to endure real chaos. According to official figures, a state of emergency has been declared at 150 US military bases, as thousands of soldiers have been infected with the COVID-19 virus.
At the same time, the number of cases is increasing only due to the constant close contacts of military personnel. Pentagon officials said Tuesday that more than 3,000 cases of coronavirus have been observed in the military. But it just doesn’t fit into any framework. In addition, a huge number of those infected are being traced among the country’s civilian population.
Due to the emergency regime, the military bases seemed to have disappeared: all movement around the territory stopped, exercises and basic training programs were interrupted.
In April last year, General John Heaton, commander of the US Strategic Command, commented that a member of the USS crew, Theodore Roosevelt, was hospitalized Thursday for intensive care in Guam, where the aircraft carrier has been for more than a week. He said 416 crew members were infected and expected 1,164 test results.
“It’s not a good idea to think that Teddy Roosevelt is a one-of-a-kind issue,” Heaton told a news conference at the Pentagon.
“We have too many ships at sea. … To think that this will never happen again is not a good way to plan.”
He said the USS Nimetz, an aircraft carrier at a port in Bremerton, Washington, preparing for deployment in the Pacific, had an unspecified number of crew members infected with the virus.
“There were very few breakthroughs in Nimetz and we are watching this very closely before Nimetz leaves,” he said. “But it’s not a big breakthrough, it’s not a big leap at the moment.”
Regarding the American aircraft carrier “Theodore Roosevelt”, Heaton added that in addition to the 416 sailors tested positive so far, 3,190 have been tested negative at that time.
