Official Statement: Coronavirus Reaches Pentagon

The US Department of Defense has reported that at least two of its staff woking at its headquarters are infected with the novel coronavirus, in the first official confirmation that the disease has reached the Pentagon.

The US Air Force Command said, in a statement issued Friday evening, that a staff member working in the office of the Health Agency of the Department of Defense in Virginia recently underwent a new examination of the new coronavirus that gave positive results, noting that he visited the Pentagon headquarters for the last time on March 16th.

The Air Force Command added that he later received medical treatment and placed himself in a self-quarantine, noting that all the people with who he had dealt with were informed of the situation, and they were all required to adhere to the instructions of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The statement also mentioned that a military contractor who is part of the Air Force and works at the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense who has undergone a special examination for the virus also gave positive results, pointing out that he visited the Pentagon for the last time on March 2, and began receiving medical treatment and put himself in self-isolation since March 7.

The statement reported that the military contractor recently visited a forum at Andros Base, Maryland, and everyone who contacted him was subjected to health monitoring, but the Virginia Department of Health, that followed up on his condition, indicated that the risk from the person was low because he had not had any symptoms then.

This statement confirms the first official announcement by the US Department of Defense that a "COVID-19" infection has reached the Pentagon, while Washington previously reported that a large number of its military personnel are infected with the virus, while about 2,600 of its military cadres deployed in Europe have quarantined themselves.