Yesterday the threshold of 20 thousand new infections was exceeded. In the plans of the Territorial Defense Forces (equivalent of the National Guard) it was defined as a "trigger" for the activation of troops for anti-epidemiological activities. According to the announcements of the Ministry of National Defense, in the near future the military's involvement in supporting the fight against the coronavirus will be increased to over 20,000 soldiers.
According to the spokesman, Col. Marek Pietrzak, on October 30, all soldiers of the Territorial Defense Forces (TDF), except for those already involved in anti-crisis activities, will receive notifications about the necessity to report to their military units. It is aimed at greater involvement of the army in anti-crisis activities.
"Territorials" will be sent to all hospitals where they will take over the tasks of the initial segregation of patients, the so-called triage. The TDF will also send soldiers to all functioning test sites, where they will collect samples for the presence of coronavirus.
The troops will also build new test sites, which in the future will turn into vaccination centers, and field hospitals.
The soldiers will also receive medical training so they can relieve doctors and nurses in some of the tasks.
