Europe: British soldiers trained to aid in COVID-19 testing amid spike in cases

On November 7, British soldiers of the 1st Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment [1YRK] were deployed in the new front line responsibility to fight against the coronavirus pandemic across Europe. The troops were seen donning the protective gear and plastic aprons over their military fatigues and covered faces with shields as they carried out rigorous sanitization, tracing, and testing. According to sources of CNN, more than 2,000 military personnel were trained for the mass testing program in England's northwestern city of Liverpool.

Troops in large numbers administered rigorous testing at the new booths installed for civilians as they accelerated the process to get the swab results as quickly as in half an hour. Army personnel were seen instructing the crowd to isolate accordingly. Sources of CNN revealed that the UK government plans to test nearly 500,000 population within 10 days. The army called in testing for all regardless of symptoms to combat the civilian health crisis. A Liverpool sports center that was converted to a test site by the soldiers witnessed a huge footfall as the army engaged in a huge joint effort for containment of the disease. 

“We have built the largest testing capacity in Europe, with 32 million tests conducted so far and over half a million tests now available every day across the UK,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson informed the House of commons.

While the case count of the novel coronavirus in the UK surging to an alarming 22,398, up from 9,716 a month earlier, Johnson said that depending on the success of the military efforts in Liverpool, his administration will distribute millions of rapid tests across the country. “New rapid tests between now and Christmas and empower local communities to use them to drive down transmission in their areas," Prime Minister Boris Johnson said. “We have ensured that, as we head into winter, the NHS has at its disposal over 30,000 ventilators and billions of items of Personal Protective Equipment, most of it now manufactured here in the UK,” he added, according to 10 Downing street’s release.  

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To contribute to national response

As fears of the health systems’ collapse loom, members of the armed forces were allocated with roles such as preventing the hospitals from overwhelming, disinfecting testing sites and transporting the patients conveniently to the medical facilities. Martin Bricknell, Professor in Conflict, Health, and Military Medicine at King's College London told CNN reporters that across Europe, armed forces have been deployed to contribute to the national response to the coronavirus. Surgeon General of the UK Armed Forces said that the army will help with logistics including procurement of medical supplies, and movement of other essential goods and services amid the pandemic. 

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