The Pentagon has banned survivors of COVID-19 from enlisting in the military, according to a government memo released this week.
A Pentagon spokeswoman confirmed the document is authentic, describing the ban to TPM as “interim.”
A permanent policy is currently being developed, the spokeswoman told TPM.
As first reported in the Military Times, the memo – from the Pentagon’s Military Entrance Processing Command (MEPCOM) – had begun circulating on social media this week.
The memo directs military staffers on how to approach COVID while processing new recruits for potential enlistment in the country’s armed forces.
A Pentagon spokeswoman told TPM that, per the regulations, “anybody that has been hospitalized with COVID-19 will be medically disqualified and would need a service waiver to join the military.”
Other prior conditions that the Pentagon considers disqualifying without a waiver include recurrent pneumonia, inflammation of the heart, and kidney injuries requiring dialysis.
The memo itself states that the military will treat COVID-19 as a “3P” condition. Under the military’s medical profiling system, that indicates a disqualifying defect in the applicant’s physical capacity or stamina.
“During the medical history interview or examination, a history of COVID-19, confirmed by either a laboratory test or clinician diagnosis, is permanently disqualifying,” the memorandum reads.
The Pentagon declined to say why it believes COVID-19 to be permanently disqualifying, or when it would issue permanent guidance on the issue.
As doctors continue to learn more about the illness, serious questions linger over the longer-term effects of a COVID infection. Some survivors have reported reduced lung capacity, while others who found themselves in grave condition emerge from the infection with kidney failure.
looks like the US military is going to be shrinking soon
But they allow bone spurs now right?
But they’re immune! Right?
Asked why current cadets are being forced to return to West Point to attend Trump’s graduation speech even though many of them may also be survivors, a spokesman said:
“Who do you think you are, Axl Rose?”
Less to this than meets the eye. We don’t yet know any of the longer-term effects of this, and with indications of things like organ damage and reduced lung capacity, exactly the sort of thing that could result in recruit deaths in training.
Probably smart to have a pause while we figure things out.