Fort Belvoir worker dies from coronavirus; base not disclosing total cases

A civilian who worked on Fort Belvoir died earlier this week from coronavirus, garrison commander Col. Michael Greenberg said Thursday.

The man, who was not identified, worked for the Defense Logisitics Agency, Greenberg said during a Facebook town hall meeting on the current coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.

Greenberg said the man died Tuesday at a local hospital. He had been isolated from the workforce and working from home for more than 14 days when he became ill, Greenberg said.

Fort Belvoir’s media office could not be reached for more information on the case.

Greenberg also said during the townhall that neither Fort Belvoir nor Fort Belvoir Community Hospital would be disclosing how many people on the installation have tested positive for coronavirus. The Defense Department announced earlier this week that military bases had been ordered to no longer disclose the number of cases, citing force readiness and security concerns.

“I understand that many of our Fort Belvoir community have questions or concerns. We are doing all we can to address those quickly… while we maintain confidenctiy and operational security as necessary,” Greenberg said. “The garrison will not release the number of positive tests, nor will the hospital.”

Greenberg said that in addition to providing care for the infected individuals, the post would work to identify, inform and quarantine people who may have been in contact with infected individuals.

He also addressed a positive case of coronavirus for a worker at one of the post’s childcare centers, which are known as CDCs. The worker first showed symptoms last Friday, and was tested on Saturday. The results came back Wednesday, Greenberg said, and he made the decision to close the CDC that night.

The CDC worker had not been at work this week, and was in self-quarantine until the results came back, Greenberg said. The worker is now in isolation, and base officials worked with the post hospital and Fairfax County to identify individuals that the infected person had contact with.

As of Thursday, Military.com reported that there were cases of coronavirus in the Defense Department, including 893 in the military, 256 dependents, 306 civilians and 95 DoD contractors.