As coronavirus surges in the military, what can or should it do next?

Over 800 IDF service members have been diagnosed with coronavirus, the numbers are only going to keep rising.

JULY 19, 2020 20:46

The IDF holds a blood drive in light of the coronavirus crisis (photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT) — The IDF holds a blood drive in light of the coronavirus crisis

(photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

With Israel deep into the second wave of coronavirus pandemic, there are close to a thousand IDF service members diagnosed with the deadly virus. And troops are still going in and out of bases.

As of Sunday evening, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit reported 826 troops have been diagnosed since the beginning of the pandemic and another 8,125 are in quarantine. All are in light condition and are in coronavirus facilities.

Now take for example the numbers of the first wave, during which the IDF quickly decided a round of strict regulations, including keeping all troops on base for close to two months.

In early May, the military said that a total of 223 service members had been diagnosed with coronavirus and another 576 were in quarantine at the time.

Brig.-Gen. Tarif Bader, the Head of the IDF Medical Corps told The Jerusalem Post in a recent interview that at the peak of the first wave at the end of March, between 60-65 soldiers tested positive for the virus per day.

But the numbers now are four times higher.

Bader told the Post that with a higher number of cases across the country- there were 1,414 new cases on Sunday morning out of a total of 27,729 active cases- “there is a higher chance that someone will meet someone carrying the virus.”

IDF Deputy Chief of Staff Maj.-Gen. Eyal Zamir has been coordinating the military’s response to the virus since the first outbreak began earlier this year along with the Operations Directorate led by Maj.-Gen. Aaron Haliva, the Medical Corps and the Homefront Command which works closely with civilian emergency response services.

The military has taken several steps in recent weeks to try to get the numbers under control, including having troops on furlough refraining from gathering with groups of over five people in public spaces except for immediate family in order to minimize contact with others, and IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi is expected to take additional steps on Monday.

But with the understanding that most troops got exposed to the virus while on furlough, including from family members the military must do more.

Like the first wave, all combat troops must be once against kept on base and the military should restart its internal transport service during the entire week and not just on Sundays and Thursday to keep troops away from the civilian population.

And with troops gathering in closed spaces, even with restrictions of no more than 50 indoors or 100 outdoors and troops working in capsule system, there is a high chance that the virus could spread and Israel’s military would see even more than 1,000 sick service members.

There have been several pictures shared on social media of troops in uniform waiting for public transportation, gathered close together and many with their masks on their chins, if on their faces at all.

It takes at least two weeks for symptoms to surface, these soldiers may not know if they are carrying the virus or not. And if they do turn out to be sick, there is a good chance that they transmitted the virus to their comrades in arms.

The numbers will keep rising, and though the military says its operational readiness hasn’t been affected as many in quarantine continue to carry out their duties, does it really want to take the chance that it just might?

And while most soldiers are in light condition, who knows when a soldier in a high-risk group contracts the virus and succumbs to it?

Close the bases Kochavi. Better late than never.