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).
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.
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.