Roughly 400 National Guard personnel have been activated in six states to help curtail the spread of the coronavirus, with another 600 expected to join them within 24 hours, the National Guard Bureau announced Friday.
“As of this morning, about 400 Air and Army National Guard professionals in six states – Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, New York, Rhode Island and Washington – are providing personnel in support of civil authority at the direction of their governors in response to COVID-19,” the National Guard said.
“As other states are requested to support civil authorities, those numbers will change rapidly. By the end of the day we expect that number to approach 1,000,” the statement read.
President Trump on Friday declared a national emergency over the coronavirus outbreak. The move will free up more federal aid to go to states and municipalities battling the spread of the deadly illness, which the World Health Organization classified as a pandemic on Wednesday.