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Coronavirus survivors banned from joining the military

OceanBonfire

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A past COVID-19 diagnosis is a no-go for processing, according to a recently released MEPCOM memo circulating on Twitter.

"During the medical history interview or examination, a history of COVID-19, confirmed by either a laboratory test or a clinician diagnosis, is permanently disqualifying ..." the memo reads.

"During the screening process, a reported history of confirmed COVID-19 will be annotated ‘Considered disqualifying"

The memo is authentic, Pentagon spokeswoman Jessica Maxwell confirmed to Military Times.

...


https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2020/05/06/coronavirus-survivors-banned-from-joining-the-military/
 
Guess their recruiting pool is going to get much smaller.
 
PMedMoe said:
Guess their recruiting pool is going to get much smaller.

Yep.  Unintended consequences and all that.
 
So will those that got it while serving be medically released?
 
MilEME09 said:
So will those that got it while serving be medically released?


I doubt it. 

The USAF alone is short over 1200 pilots, amongst other folks essential for an air force to do air force things.  The USN is trying to expand to 355 ships, hence the recent interest in buying a minimum of 10 frigates, with the USN hoping top buy as many as 40 to expand the fleet at a much smaller cost than buying all Burkes.

The USN right now has a few ships stuck out at sea, with THOUSANDS of qualified people onboard due to COVID-19 concerns.  I doubt they could fulfill all of their global committments, while openly preparing for a war with China, if they medically release everybody. 

They would also be setting themselves up for a never-ending nightmare of lawsuits down the road, as current testing can be wrong often enough.  If someone were tested positive due to a variety of factors that can produce a false reading, tests done incorrectly, the probably of mixing up results when conducting mass testing in a short period of time - if someone tested positive, and it turns out they didn't have it...and were medically released?  Law suit.  Big one.  And LOTS of them. 

^  (Unless they can set themselves up to cushion future litigation with generous enough severance packages.)  I'm not a lawyer, but I imagine it would be a headache for a long time to come.


Folks could also test and get a false negative, and actually have it.  So unfortunately, as things stand right now, there isn't a clear win/win or solution to it. 

A future recruiting challenge for sure though.  A much smaller pool of candidates, and perhaps taking away the option for people to extend contracts or re-enlist.



Given within the next year or two things will most likely be substantially different in terms of testing, accurate results, and vaccines or treatments...I can understand it being an automatic dis-qualifier for now, but hopefully not forever.    :2c:
 
I suspect this will last until the science is settled about whether those who have had it and recovered have truly ceased being infectious, and how long that takes. For now they need to know more about the virus and the long term implications.

It’s a reasonable and obvious force protection measure in the short term. It’s equally obvious that it’s completely untenable in the long term.
 
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