{"id":66400,"date":"2020-07-10T20:46:15","date_gmt":"2020-07-10T20:46:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/07\/10\/militarys-covid-19-cases-growing-at-twice-the-nationwide-rate\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T13:11:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T13:11:42","slug":"militarys-covid-19-cases-growing-at-twice-the-nationwide-rate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/07\/10\/militarys-covid-19-cases-growing-at-twice-the-nationwide-rate\/","title":{"rendered":"Military\u2019s COVID-19 cases growing at twice the nationwide rate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

More than 4,100 service members have tested positive for coronavirus <\/a>since the July 1, according to the Defense Department\u2019s latest statistics, a rise of about 33 percent in the last 10 days. That is more than twice the rate of growth<\/a> nationwide during the same period, 16 percent, as the U.S. more than once broke its daily records for new cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were three new deaths, all of contractors or civilians, during this period as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defense officials have attributed the recent rise in military cases both to increased testing and to the lifting of shelter-in-place orders<\/a> in some force concentration areas, while expressing faith that local commanders are enforcing protective measures like social distancing and face covering for their troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile we are seeing some upticks in the same places there are upticks in the civilian sector, again, that is not necessarily overly surprising, in that we have been doing more testing,\u201d assistant defense secretary for health affairs Tom McCaffery told reporters July 1. \u201cAnd we have been doing testing of those who are asymptomatic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The infection rate among service members is now 0.8 percent, compared to 0.9 nationwide. That is the closest the military\u2019s infection rate has come to the general public\u2019s in the U.S., and double what it was in mid-June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These most recent calculations by Military Times reflect the period between July 1 and July 10, rather than the previous weekly calculations published every Friday. DoD did not post its updated numbers on July 3, despite its current Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials have pointed to states with spiking infection rates as possible contributors to new cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn general we are doing more testing, which can lead to more positive cases, which prompts more testing,\u201d Air Force spokesman Lt. Col. Malinda Singleton told Military Times in late June. \u201cMany of our installations are in current hotspots (Texas, Arizona, Florida), which is also leading to an increase in positive cases.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time, the Air Force had just seen a 44-percent spike over the previous week. Since July 1, cases have jumped 55 percent, putting that service at 2,395 total cases since March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once boasting the lowest-per-capita infection rate among the services, the Air Force\u2019s recent rise in cases has brought it more into proportion with the size of the service. The Marine Corps, too, which had infections in the hundreds well into June, saw a 41-percent increase in its cases since July 1, for a current total of 1,770.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Navy, which for months had the majority of the military\u2019s cases, grew by 25 percent in the past week-and-a-half, to 4,591 total. The Army, with more than twice the personnel of the Navy and Air Force, has reported 5,311 infection, a 38-percent increase since July 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe would be concerned with any identification of new infections, but we are taking the same measures that the public health community writ large would take,\u201d McCaffery said that day, including isolation and contact tracing after every positive test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was not clear, however, whether local commanders were enforcing strict protective protocols for their troops both on and off base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While service members are required to socially distance and wear a face covering while on military property, their behavior out in town \u2015 including localities where masks aren\u2019t required and bars, restaurants and beaches have been packed \u2015 has not been universally regulated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Navy, for its part, has banned a number of public places, via order from Fleet Forces Command<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those include beaches, swimming pools, tattoo shops, theaters, salons\/spas, restaurants, bars and a long list of others.<\/p>\n\n\n\t