Analysis / Covid-19

Covid-19 Response Update: August 7-August 14

Combating Covid-19 Series

This is CSIS’s weekly roundup of major updates on the military and the novel coronavirus since Friday, August 7. It explores what the military has done to combat Covid-19 and how the military has in turn been affected by the virus.

New DoD cases of Covid-19 have declined this week, with the 7-day average decreasing by about 4 percent since last Friday to 554 new cases. Deaths rose to 74, a roughly 3 percent increase, which is a notably slower rate than last week’s 9 percent increase.

Major Updates:

  • August 11: U.S. Indo-Pacific Command stated that military personnel and their families account for about 7% of total covid-19 cases in Hawaii. This is roughly their proportion of the state’s population. The department of defense typically does not give out statistics for bases or units but made an exception because of public concerns about military personnel moving into the state.
  • August 11: After spending 7 months at sea to avoid Covid-19, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower returned to Norfolk, breaking the Navy’s current record for most days at sea.
  • August 12: To prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, over 30,000 military personnel are in quarantine ahead of their training or deployment.
  • August 12: The U.S. and South Korea will begin their annual joint military drill after scaling the program back due to coronavirus concerns.

Military Cases of Covid-19

How DoD cases have been trending over time is broken down below, by new cases; total cases; active cases in the DoD; and across the military services.

Methodological note: 1) Monday, Wednesday, and Friday totals are divided across the intervening days and weekends since DoD Covid-19 updates are only released during the work week on a M-W-F basis. 2) Adjustments were made on April 9 and April 15 when new cases where negative. These days were totaled and divided by the previous day to account for the correction. 3) DoD appeared to change the way cases were reported between April 15-Aprilt 16. A resulting spike in cases on April 16 was divided over the two prior days to account for this methodological shift.

This weekly update is made possible by the International Security Program at CSIS.

(Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

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