Italy Seeks US Military Support to Counter Coronavirus

The Italian government has made a direct appeal to US Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Monday for military aid to counter Coronavirus, amid growing infections and deaths.

Italy's defense minister has asked Esper for critical medical kits including, masks and ventilators as Italy has nearly 60,000 confirmed cases and more than 5,000 deaths.

The Italian government has also asked the US military personnel stationed in Italy to assist Italian authorities by providing medical personnel and field hospitals in support of Italian troops already responding to the crisis there.

It is worth mentioning that, Esper reportedly made the Defense Department’s stockpile of masks and ventilators available to civilian hospitals in the US to help respond to the pandemic.

With the number of growing cases each day, Italy has become the epicenter of the deadly disease in Europe.

The Italian Government has announced further lockdown measures to combat the spread of coronavirus.

Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte said on Saturday that all Italian businesses must close until April 3, with the exception of those essential to maintaining the country’s supply chain, in the latest desperate effort to halt the coronavirus epidemic.

 The World Health Organization (WHO) declared coronavirus a global pandemic as the new virus has rapidly spread to more than 121,000 people from Asia to the Middle East, Europe, and the United States.

According to the organization, the number of COVID-19 infections outside China has doubled in the past two weeks, and the number of countries hit by the epidemic has tripled.

“We are very concerned to achieve the alarming levels of the outbreak and its severity, as well as the alarming levels of inaction,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference in Geneva.

More cases of the virus, which causes respiratory disease Covid-19, continue to emerge, with outbreaks in SouthKorea, Italy, and Iran.

Worldwide, the new virus has infected more than 303,000 people and killed more than 12,940.