This story was last updated June 25, 2021.
As COVID-19 continues to spread to communities across the country, the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs are providing daily updates on the number of confirmed and presumptive cases of the virus in the military community, as well as the number of tests administered to military members.
As of June 25, officials said there have now been 302,685 total cases of COVID-19, also known as the novel coronavirus, within the DoD: 200,793 military, 30,064 dependents, 53,111 civilians and 18,717 Defense Department contractors. In addition, 198,108 military members, 29,861 dependents, 47,804 civilians and 17,804 contractors have recovered, and 355 DoD-connected personnel have died: 26 troops, 14 dependents, 235 civilians and 80 contractors.
Of the cases, 4,157 have required hospitalization, officials said: 1,768 service members, 1,400 civilians, 377 dependents and 512 contractors.
DoD began releasing service-specific case data April 3, 2020. There have now been 72,172 Army cases; 32,740 Air Force cases; 22,623 Marine Corps cases; and 39,084 Navy cases. There are also 33,009 cases within the National Guard, and 1,165 among other elements.
On April 23, 2021, DoD began releasing service-specific data on COVID-19 vaccinations. These are the current numbers of U.S. troops who have been fully vaccinated:
- Army: 300,287
- Marine Corps: 94,172
- Navy: 258,729
- Air Force: 236,020
- DoD Civilian: 257,170
Total number of troops fully vaccinated: 889,218
The Defense Department announced the first military-connected coronavirus death March 22, 2020: a DoD contractor based in Falls Church, Virginia who worked for the Defense Security Cooperation Agency.
The first military dependent died March 26, 2020 at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia.
On March 30, 2020, the Defense Department announced the first death of a U.S. service member from the disease: Capt. Douglas Linn Hickok, 57, of the New Jersey Army National Guard.
On May 22, 2020, an Army reservist, 34-year-old Sgt. Simon Zamudio, also died from COVID-19.
On March 14, 2020, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced the first VA-connected fatality due to coronavirus: a veteran in his 70s in the VA Portland, Oregon, health care system who had "underlying health issues."
As of June 25, 2021, VA is also tracking 265,176 total cumulative positive cases among veterans and VA employees. It began releasing totals for both populations May 4, 2020. It is no longer breaking the numbers down by presumptive positives and positives confirmed by the CDC. A total of 12,415 veterans tracked by the VA have died.
VA officials say they have administered more than 4,100,623 coronavirus tests as of June 18, and add they believe they have enough to meet demand.
The VA has also fully vaccinated 3,175,843 people as of June 25.
Troops or veterans who believe they have symptoms of the virus, which can include shortness of breath, fever and a cough, are advised to call their health care provider or VA facility right away. Military members are also advised to stay home and notify their supervisor.
-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck.
