WASHINGTON — Top military leaders said that more than 50,000 uniformed personnel have responded to provide direct relief to the national response effort to combat COVID-19.
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said that the military -- which has primarily focused its response on New York and Los Angeles -- could "pivot" elsewhere in the country.
"We're looking at putting two urban Army medical task forces into Boston, for example. We're looking at deploying personnel to Miami, I mentioned some other places where we are, Chicago may be where we move the Seattle Army field hospital from, from Seattle to there. But FEMA makes that decision, not us," he said.
The nation's top military officer began Tuesday's briefing at the Pentagon offering condolences over the COVID-19-related death of a USS Theodore Roosevelt sailor.
"Tragic loss, our thoughts go out to the entire crew," said Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Milley and Esper revealed that of the 585 TR sailors who have tested positive for coronavirus, only 218 were symptomatic.
The leaders also talked about the decision to keep the Norfolk-based USS Harry S. Truman in the Western Atlantic, and delaying its homecoming after recently completing its overseas deployment to the Mediterranean and Arabian Seas.
"We made a decision, the secretary made a decision, and the Navy made a decision to keep the Harry S. Truman at sea, so that we had at least two carriers at sea at a moment's notice," said Milley. "And we'll keep the Harry S. Truman at sea until next up -- which is the Nimitz -- sets sail, which we expect to be set sail shortly."