May 26 (UPI) — A third U.S. service member has died from coronavirus complications, according to information released by the Department of Defense on Tuesday.
The Pentagon has not provided much information about the person who died but confirmed to Military Times that the victim was a member of the Army.
The death was among three within the military that the Pentagon has reported since Friday, along with two DoD civilian employee deaths.
It’s the first reported service member death since COVID-19 claimed the life of Navy Chief Petty Officer Robert Thacker Jr. in Guam in mid-April.
Army Capt. Douglas Linn Hickock, a member of the New Jersey National Guard and physician assistant who was preparing to activate as part of the pandemic response, died of COVID-19 at the end of March.,
As of Memorial Day weekend, more than 6,118 U.S. service members have contracted the novel coronavirus, according to the Pentagon. Of those, 165 have been hospitalized and 3,460 have recovered.
The Pentagon also reports that 1,433 DoD civilian employees, 1,042 military dependents and 580 defense contractors have contracted the disease as of Tuesday.
As of Tuesday military’s infection rate among troops was .3 percent and its mortality rate .0004 percent, compared to the .5 percent and 6 percent among the general U.S. population.
The majority of military infections — 2,736 — have been in the Navy.
