United States Southern Command is working to protect all personnel who had contact with the coronavirus-infected press chief for Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who visited the military command in Miami on March 8 before traveling on to Mar-a-Lago to meet with President Trump.
Southcom has no confirmed cases of the coronavirus, and the results of all personnel tests so far are negative, including commander, Adm. Craig Faller, the Southern Command said Tuesday. The tests follow a visit by the Brazilian president and his press chief, Fabio Wajngarten, who later tested positive for the virus.
“The command has contacted, and is closely monitoring, all personnel who supported the Brazilian delegation’s visit to the headquarters Sunday, March 8. We are following the Centers for Disease Control guidelines and remain vigilant,” the U.S. Southern Command said in a statement this morning.
Southcom public affairs officer Jose Ruiz told the Washington Examiner that the command is working with the Florida Department of Health to get the tests it needs for those with potential exposure. He declined to state how many have been tested or if U.S. Southern Command currently has enough tests.
The U.S. Southern Command employs about 1,000 military and civilian personnel at its headquarters and is responsible for the Caribbean and all of Latin American except Mexico.
Across the Department of Defense, as of 5 a.m. on Monday, only 495 personnel had been tested for the coronavirus, and 37 were confirmed to be infected by the virus.
Like personnel at the Pentagon and across Defense Department installations worldwide, the Southcom workforce has practiced social distancing, self-monitoring for symptoms, and self-isolation when symptoms develop.
A 24-hour medical hotline was rolled out, and the headquarters underwent a deep cleaning.
“Southcom has implemented DOD travel restrictions, is maximizing telework and is carefully reviewing upcoming events, activities and engagements to determine if events should be postponed or canceled,” read the statement.
Ruiz said U.S. Southern Command is “maximizing” teleworking, but he could not state how many personnel have avoided the command since its exposure.
A humanitarian and medical readiness training known as Exercise Vita, held between Joint Task Force-Bravo, a U.S. unit based in Honduras, and top military partner Colombia, was scaled back as a precaution, but still took place March 6 in La Guajira, Colombia.
Other military readiness exercises across the global combatant commands have been canceled, and Defense Department personnel are on strict orders not to travel except for mission-essential purposes.
