Coronavirus cases among troops soar after sleeping in sub-zero temperatures
By: Jack Murphy |@NeonNettle on 23rd January 2021 @ 8.00pm
Over 100 members of the National Guard have tested positive for the coronavirus after they slept in near-freezing temperatures “packed… together like sardines” in parking garages of the Capitol building.
The news caused outrage earlier this week as photos of the living conditions the National Guard troops were enduring emerged on Thursday night, just a day after Joe Biden was sworn in as the nation’s 46th president.
According to Politico, the official number of coronavirus cases among the National Guard has not yet been released, but The Wall Street Journal puts the current figure at “close to 200.”
The news outlet also noted that the less-than-ideal conditions in Washington, D.C., risk the virus’s rampant spread.
One National Guardsmen told Politico earlier this week:
“Yesterday dozens of senators and congressmen walked down our lines taking photos, shaking our hands and thanking us for our service.”
“Within 24 hours, they had no further use for us and banished us to the corner of a parking garage.”
“We feel incredibly betrayed.”
A source close to security discussions at the Capitol said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “personally met with the Secretary of the Army to demand 14,000 National Guard troops be deployed to the Capitol.”
Around 25,000 National Guard forces were sent to assist federal law enforcement authorities in Washington, DC, for Joe Biden’s inauguration.
On Thursday, the National Guard said that 15,000 National Guardsmen would be sent home in a press release.
Sen. Tom Cotton vowed to get “to get to the bottom of this.”
There are 10,600 who are still on duty, but that number will go down to 7,000 near the end of the month. (Click to Source)
