Two members of the U.S. National Guard have died after contracting the CCP virus, bringing the total of virus-related deaths within the military to 19, according to data from the Department of Defense (DOD).
The DOD noted the deaths of the service members in an updated online chart that keeps track of cases and deaths connected to the military.
Their identities were not immediately revealed, though a Pentagon spokesperson said both were members of the National Guard, one service member was assigned to Alabama, while the second member was assigned to California.
The deaths come as the U.S. military has surpassed a total of more than 143,000 cases, according to the online chart updated on Wednesday. There have been 1,346 military officials admitted to hospitals over the course of the pandemic.
Just two weeks ago, the Pentagon announced a New York-based National Guard airman and an Ohio-based National Guard sailor died from the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly referred to as the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19.
The sailor, 52-year-old Logistics Specialist 2nd Class Abdigafar Warsame died near his home in Columbus, Ohio, at a civilian hospital, according to a Navy reserve spokesman, the Military Times reported. The airman’s identity won’t be revealed per the wishes of the family.
Since the onset of the pandemic, the DOD has reported over 225,000 COVID-19 cases with 252 deaths. A total of 3,333 officials were admitted to hospitals over the course of the pandemic, most recent updates show.
For the DOD’s total cases, besides 143,272 in the military, 45,106 were among civilians, 23,034 among dependents, and 14,341 among contractors.
As of Thursday, nationwide more than 26.5 million cases of the CCP virus and 453,545 deaths were reported, according to Johns Hopkins University.