25 June
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is set to deploy nearly 1,000 personnel to increase its support to Victoria to help it contain the Covid-19 pandemic. The move comes following a request from the Victorian government. Up to 850 members of the ADF will offer support to hotel quarantine monitoring, while around 200 personnel will be available to provide logistical as well as medical support for public testing initiatives. Minister for Defence Linda Reynolds said that the additional personnel will be deployed over the coming days. The ADF has been providing customised support to state and territory authorities under Operation COVID-19 ASSIST.
Go deeper with GlobalData
The Director-General Armed Forces Medical Services (DGAFMS) in India has issued a revised protocol according to which asymptomatic Armed Forces personnel who return from leaves or temporary posting need not undergo testing for Covid-19 during their quarantine period at station facilities/ unit segregation/home for 14 days. This protocol is aimed at containing the spread of the pandemic in the personnel, PTI reported. Issued in view of the evolving pattern of Covid-19, the revised protocol also recommended preventing short duration duties of up to one week unless considered important.
A new drug developed by the Academy of Military Science (AMS), a research institute with affiliation to China’s People’s Liberation Army, has secured approval from the National Medical Products Administration to test its second coronavirus vaccine candidate in humans. This is the eighth candidate under clinical trials in China. Although more than a dozen candidates are under different stages of trials across the world, no Covid-19 vaccine so far has secured approval for sale, reported Reuters.
