Defense Department may ban recruits hospitalized for COVID-19

The Defense Department may ban recruits who have been hospitalized for COVID-19 as a precaution in case they require future medical assessments, a Pentagon spokesman confirmed.

The Pentagon is finalizing the restrictions on possible recruits who have tested positive or been treated for the coronavirus, according to multiple reports. Officials are considering the ban because the long-term effects of the coronavirus are unknown, and they worry recruits’ medical issues will resurface. 

The Pentagon spokesperson told The Hill that the restrictions would serve as “interim guidance.”

“Anybody that has been hospitalized with COVID-19 will be medically disqualified and would need a service waiver to join the military,” the spokesperson added.

With the policy, those who had been hospitalized with COVID-19 would need a waiver from the service they want to sign up with, a defense official told CNN. Recruits with other medical conditions like heart disease and loss of vision are already required to provide these waivers to join the military.

Officials also have expressed concerns that the military will not be able to recruit enough members before a testing program is in place. Navy officials told CNN that experts need to determine why some people do not develop symptoms and may test negative but still carry the virus.

Asymptomatic sailors on the USS Theodore Roosevelt continue to test positive weeks after the ship experienced its outbreak. Officials estimate the ship’s crew may have reached 60 percent asymptomatic rates or higher at first, as sailors who initially tested negative are now testing positive, even without symptoms.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Tuesday said that the Pentagon plans to randomly test groups of people “to understand how many asymptomatic or carriers are maybe out there.”

The Military Times first reported the development on Wednesday.

— This report was updated at 10:24 a.m.