The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject.(April 2020) |
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Armed forces play a crucial role when responding to crises and emergencies. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, militaries were readily deployed in many countries to assist the civilian medical personnel and overwhelmed hospitals by creating additional hospitals and providing other additional resources. [1] Apart from the management of the health crises, the pandemic has had a significant impact on the military operations. The security and defence related aspects including the missions, operations and training were adversely affected with the Covid-19. [2] The broad spread of Covid can limit the defence forces' ability to carry out a mission. Many military training and exercises have been postponed or cancelled. [3]
Recruit training that involves several hundred recruits increased the safety risk during the Covid pandemic. Limiting the spread of Covid was a top priority to ensure that the training can be conducted without interruption. [4] The immediate measure to limit the spread of the pandemic was to limit the movement of trainees and trainers through lockdown, quarantine and so on.
The lockdowns and restrictions as a result of Covid-19 prevented the entry of trainers into institutes, reduced the number of new trainees and the final phase of induction training was left incomplete. [5] The defences forces recruitment process including collective training activities and induction processing came to a halt as a result of Covid -19. [6] The low recruitment rates and increased turnover rates in the military have led to the military strength falling below the minimum. [7] The strength of the defence forces depends on competent staff. Military authorities have warned about the need for urgent measures to boost retention and increase recruitment to address the current shortage of defence force personnel as a result of Covid. [8]
The Covid-19 pandemic adversely affected the physical and mental health of military veterans. Studies indicate that military veterans without insomnia symptoms pre-pandemic developed either subthreshold or clinical insomnia symptoms during the pandemic period. [9]
Military forces all over the world are adopting several measures to minimise the threats of the Covid pandemic on the military readiness to fulfil missions. [10] The nature of responses of the defence forces during the Covid pandemic has significant impact on international safety missions. [11]
On 27 February, South Korea and the United States (US) cancelled joint military exercises scheduled for March 2020. [12] The Israeli defence force implemented social distancing through measures such as splitting personnel's into separate shifts, reducing the number of personnel in a single room and minimising exposure between military personnel and civilians. [4] Putting units into quarantine, using masks and other personal protective equipment and use of disinfectants were other methods adopted to contain the Covid pandemic in the Israeli defence force. [4]
On 11 March, the Norwegian Armed Forces cancelled the Cold Response 20 exercise planned to involve NATO and allied personnel. [3]
During the first wave of the pandemic in Italy, the Italian armed forces worked with the national government to provide civilian healthcare and logistical support throughout the country, in addition to serve as lockdown enforcement alongside the police. [13] [14]
On 25 March, president of France Emmanuel Macron launched "Operation Resilience" to enable the French armed forces to provide civilian support during the pandemic in France and overseas French territories. [15]
The military exercises scheduled in the first half of 2020 were cancelled. [16] The cancelled exercises include a joint fire exercise on the dynamic front, saber strike, joint warfighting assessment and swift response. On 16 March, the National Defense Industrial Association in the United States cancelled the 2020 Special Operations Forces Industry Conference scheduled for May 2020. [17] On 25 March, the Department of Defense prohibited the deployment of servicemembers for 60 days to mitigate spread of the virus. [18] On 27 March, the United States cancelled large-scale exercises involving thousands of troops in the Philippines that had been scheduled for May 2020. [19] In addition, the movement of personnel and equipment from the US to Europe also ceased due to concerns over Covid-19. All the cancelled exercises were crucial to enhance NATO's military capabilities and improve their ability to defend against Russian aggression. [20] On 6 April, the United States Forces Japan declared a Public Health Emergency on the Kanto Plain installations. [21] [22] In May 2020, the Department of Defense issued a memo banning survivors of COVID-19 from joining the military. [23] In June 2020, the United States Navy came up with guidance to combat COVID-19 and deploy safely using the smallest effort possible. [24]
On 20 March 2020, CJTF-OIR confirmed that certain troops would be withdrawing from Iraq due to the pandemic. [25]
On 2020.04.18, it was announced that 21 sailors staying at INS Angre, a naval base in Mumbai, had tested positive. [26] Most of the cases were asymptomatic, and all of the cases had been traced to a sailor who tested positive on 2020.04.07. [26] The Navy emphasized that no sailors serving on a ship or submarine had been infected. [26]
On 15 March, the first two cases in Akrotiri and Dhekelia were confirmed. [27]
On 24 March, the first case in Guantanamo Bay Naval Base was confirmed. [28]
On 26 February, the first case was confirmed to have spread to the Camp Humphreys. [29]
As of 22 April, a total of 22 SARS-CoV-2 cases were laboratory confirmed at United States Forces Korea bases: 10 at Camp Humpreys, 8 at Daegu and Gyeongsangbuk Province bases (Camp Carroll, Camp Henry and Camp Walker), 3 at the Osan Air Base, and 1 at the Camp Casey. [30]
The COVID-19 pandemic spread to a number of naval ships, with the nature of such ships, including working with others in small enclosed areas and the lack of private quarters for the vast majority of crew, contributing to the rapid spread of the disease, even more so than on cruise ships. [31] [32] The important nature of naval personnel compared to cruise ship personnel and passengers make such COVID-19 outbreaks on naval ships more concerning.
The Reserve Defence Forces (RDF) are the combined reserve components of the Irish Defence Forces. The RDF is organised into the First Line Reserve (FLR) and an active Second Line Reserve. The First Line Reserve comprises former members of the Permanent Defence Forces (PDF) and the Second Line Reserve comprises the Army Reserve (AR) and Naval Service Reserve (NSR).
The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in 24,470,262 confirmed cases, and is associated with 226,977 deaths.
The COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the Republic of Ireland, it has resulted in 1,712,654 cases and 9,028 deaths.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 virus. The first case of the virus in Sri Lanka was confirmed on 27 January 2020, after a 44-year-old Chinese woman from Hubei, China, was admitted to the Infectious Disease Hospital in Angoda, Sri Lanka. As of 1 September 2021, a total of 462,767 COVID-19 cases had been recorded in the country, 386,509 patients had recovered from the disease, and 10,140 patients had died.
The COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa is part of the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
The COVID-19 pandemic in the Bailiwick of Guernsey was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The Bailiwick has been successful in limiting and preventing the spread of the virus through a rigorous system of testing, tracing and isolating suspected and confirmed cases and requiring arrivals to self-isolate for 14 days. The States of Guernsey co-ordinates the pandemic response which has been praised for its transparency and clarity and held up as an exemplar of good communication.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Oman was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have reached Oman on 24 February 2020 when two citizens tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from Iran. As of 21 August 2021, the total number of cases registered in the sultanate is 300,914, of which 289,450 have recovered and 4,020 have died. Initially, the majority of the cases and deaths occurred in the expatriate community. By July 2020, as the pandemic entered its fourth month in the country, the majority of the cases and deaths had occurred among the citizens.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Cuba was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have spread to Cuba on 11 March 2020 when three Italian tourists tested positive for the virus.
Operation Rescript was the code name for the British military operation to help tackle the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom and its Crown Dependencies between 2020 and 2022. It was described as the UK's "biggest ever homeland military operation in peacetime" by the Ministry of Defence (MOD), involving up to 23,000 personnel within a specialist task force, named the COVID Support Force (CSF). The support was given at the request of the UK government, its devolved administrations and civil authorities through the Military aid to the civil authorities (MACA) mechanism.
Operation Broadshare is the code name for the British military operation to address the COVID-19 pandemic overseas, primarily in the British Overseas Territories (BOTs) and British overseas military bases. The operation runs in parallel to a similar military operation in the United Kingdom, named Operation Rescript.
Brett Elliott Crozier is a retired captain in the United States Navy. A United States Naval Academy graduate, he became a naval aviator, first flying helicopters and then switching to fighters. After completing naval nuclear training, he served as an officer on several aircraft carriers. In spring 2020, he was commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt when COVID-19 broke out among the crew. He was relieved of command by then-acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly after sending a letter to Navy leaders asking that most of the crew be taken ashore which was subsequently leaked to the press. Crozier himself was also later diagnosed with the virus. He was reassigned to a shore position and retired in March 2022.
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic, was detected on the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt in March 2020 while she was at sea. Affected crew members were evacuated and the ship was ordered to Guam. The captain, Brett Crozier, wanted most of the crew to be removed from the ship to prevent the spread of the disease, but his superiors were reluctant. After several days Crozier e-mailed three of his superior officers and seven other Navy Captains, outlining a plan for the ship to be largely evacuated because the virus could not be contained on board. The letter leaked to the press, and the next day the Navy ordered most of the crew to be taken ashore, but the captain was relieved of command by Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly. Modly's order was controversial, and his later speech to the crew aboard Theodore Roosevelt was criticized. Modly resigned a few days later. By mid-April hundreds of crew members including Crozier had tested positive for the virus, and one had died.
This article documents the chronology of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020, which originated in Wuhan, China in December 2019. Some developments may become known or fully understood only in retrospect. Reporting on this pandemic began in December 2019.
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Somaliland in March 2020. As of 16 August 2021, there are 4703 cases and 319 deaths. 68206 tests have been conducted.
The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the United States' Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in March 2020. Since April 2020, the United States Department of Defense has directed bases to not publicize case statistics.
The COVID-19 pandemic spread to many military ships. The nature of these ships, which includes working with others in small enclosed areas and a lack of private quarters for the vast majority of crew, contributed to the rapid spread of the disease, even more so than on cruise ships.
In April 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic reached the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle and the Aeronaval Group of the Naval Action Force, its carrier battle group.
The first responses of the government of India to the COVID-19 pandemic in the country involved thermal screenings of passengers arriving from China, the country from which the coronavirus disease 2019 originated, as well as of passengers arriving from other countries. As the pandemic spread worldwide, the Indian government recommended social distancing measures and also initiated travel and entry restrictions. Throughout March 2020, several shutdowns and business closures were initiated, and by the end of the month, the Indian government ordered a widespread lockdown. An economic package was announced in May 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom has had far-reaching consequences in the country that go beyond the spread of the disease itself and efforts to quarantine it, including political, cultural, and social implications.