COVID-19: Pentagon lost 1 personnel, cases over 1,000

By Vakkas Dogantekin

ANKARA (AA) - The Pentagon announced its first U.S. service member death from coronavirus, reporting over 1,000 cases as of Monday.

An army national guardsman died from the coronavirus in New Jersey on Saturday after testing positive on March 21, according to CNN.

The Department of Defense on Monday announced the death, with Secretary Mark Esper calling it a "sad day" and a "stinging loss."

"The news of this loss strengthens our resolve to work ever more closely with our interagency partners to stop the spread of COVID-19," Esper said.

Pentagon's number of COVID-19 cases topped over 1,000 on Monday. So far, 34 infected personnel have recovered.

The current death toll in the U.S. has surpassed 3,100, with over 164,600 confirmed cases, making it the country with the highest number of cases worldwide, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

After first appearing in Wuhan, China, last December, the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19 has spread to at least 178 countries and regions. The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a pandemic.

The data shows more than 788,500 cases have been reported globally so far, with the death toll nearing 38,000 and nearly 167,000 recoveries.