TROOPS could be brought in to guard hospitals and supermarkets in dramatic new measures to tackle the coronavirus. Medical chiefs saying up to 10,000 may now be infected.
As the government considers some of the scenarios that could unfold with the spread of Covid-19. The Armed Forces are ready to step in and help. This could be the first nationwide Aid operation on home soil. With more than 10,000 members of the Armed Forces on standby over the coming weeks as Covid-19 / Coronavirus takes grip of the UK. With members of the Defence Medical Service being called back to the UK last week from European Exercise. Many of the specialist field hospital units are home and ready to respond.
including toilet paper dried pasta, rice, ready meals and frozen food.
As officials say they’ve moved into the second phase of plans
to contain the deadly bug.
Credit: ALAMY LIVE NEWS
Royal Air Force logisticians from RAF Brize Norton seen here providing aid cargo to the Caribbean to support disaster relief in the wake of Hurricane Irma.
The current count of infected people is more than 169,000 Globally. More than 6,500 people have now died.
The Armed Forces are always ready to assist at home in times of need. In 2017 Operation Temperer saw troops supporting our Police in the wake of the Manchester Terror attack that killed 22 and left 59 injured.
The details of Operation Broadshare have not been shared so as to avoid panic but details will likely follow as the situation intensifies. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace is due to answer Defence Questions” In the House of Commons later today.
Operation Broadshare is likely to facilitate: Supporting our NHS Staff. The safe transportation of food, critical supplies and medicines. Controlling of Isolation/quarantine zones. The staffing of morgues, Supporting Police across areas of need as we have seen in the past. Also assisting remote communities, the vulnerable and protecting major buildings.
The Parachute Regiment, are seen here honing their crowd control skills.
The Armed Forces personnel would be made high risk to exposure to Covid-19 The Military have made plans under the assumption of at least 20% of personnel becoming infected. On Sunday the 15th March, two members of the Armed forces community who arrived in Cyprus (RAF Akrotiri) on Friday 13th March were confirmed to have tested positive. They are self isolating and have only displayed mild symptoms.
seen here in one of the training tents within the Ebola Facility.
The advice to avoid unnecessary contact was “particularly important” for the over-70s, pregnant women and those with certain health conditions. The new restrictions also include entire households being told to stay in isolation for 14 days if anyone displays the symptoms of persistent cough or fever – rather than an individual, for seven days.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson Speaking earlier today 16th March 20
The NHS Guidance for those who have Coronavirus symptoms:
Stay at home for 7 days if you have either:
- A high temperature – you feel hot to touch on your chest or back
- A new, continuous cough – this means you’ve started coughing repeatedly
Do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital.
You do not need to contact 111 to tell them you’re staying at home.
Testing for coronavirus is not needed if you’re staying at home.
Treatment for coronavirus
There is currently no specific treatment for coronavirus.
Antibiotics do not help, as they do not work against viruses.
Treatment aims to relieve the symptoms while your body fights the illness.
You’ll need to stay in isolation, away from other people, until you have recovered.
Background
Coronaviruses are a family of viruses common across the world in animals and humans; certain types cause illnesses in people. For example, some coronaviruses cause the common cold; others cause diseases which are much more severe such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe
Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), both of which often lead to pneumonia.
COVID-19 is the illness seen in people infected with a new strain of coronavirus not previously seen in humans. On 31st December 2019, Chinese authorities notified the World Health Organisation (WHO) of an outbreak of pneumonia in
Wuhan City, which was later classified as a new disease: COVID-19.
On 30th January 2020, WHO declared the outbreak of COVID-19 a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” (PHEIC).
As it is a new virus, the lack of immunity in the population (and the absence as yet of an effective vaccine) means that COVID-19 has the potential to spread extensively. The current data seem to show that we are all susceptible to catching this disease, and thus it also more likely than not that the UK will be significantly
affected. Among those who become infected, some will exhibit no symptoms. Early data suggest that of those who develop an illness, the great majority will have a mild-to-moderate, but self-limiting illness – similar to seasonal flu.
It is, however, also clear that a minority of people who get COVID-19 will develop complications severe enough to require hospital care, most often pneumonia. In a small proportion of these, the illness may be severe enough to lead to death.
British Armed Forces News – © Crown Copyright 2020
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