The Canadian military is preparing for multiple waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in an operation that could last 12 months or more. That’s according to a planning directive issued Thursday by the chief of the defence staff.
The Canadian military is preparing to respond to multiple waves of the COVID-19 pandemic which could stretch out over a year or more, the country’s top military commander said in his latest planning directive.
Gen. Jonathan Vance, chief of the defence staff, warned in a memo issued Thursday that requests for assistance can be expected “from all echelons of government and the private sector and they will likely come to the Department [of National Defence] through multiple points of entry.”
The directive notes the federal government has not yet directed the military to move into response mode, but if or when it does, a single government panel — likely a deputy-minister level inter-departmental task force — will “triage requests and co-ordinate federal responses.”
It also warns that members of the military will contract the novel coronavirus, “potentially threatening the integrity” of some units.
At the moment, there are only three confirmed cases of COVID-19 among military members, according to Vance.
The notion that the virus caseload could recede and then return is a feature of federal government planning.
The Public Health Agency of Canada has put out a notice looking for people to staff its Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response during the crisis and the secondment is expected to last between 12