IDF sends reserve battalion to provide civil aid to virus-stricken Triangle area

The Israel Defense Forces deploys a Home Front Command reserve battalion to the area of the so-called Triangle, a region of mostly Arab towns and cities along the border between Israel and the West Bank, to provide civil aid in light of a major outbreak of the coronavirus there, the military says.

“This morning, the 996th Reserve Battalion of the Home Front Command arrived to provide assistance to the area of the ‘Triangle,’ as part of the IDF’s assistance to areas with high infection rates,” the military says.

This includes establishing a drive-in coronavirus testing facility in the area of Daliyat al-Carmel “in order to increase the rate of testing carried out in the region in light of the growing [number of] infections,” the IDF says.

The military also releases a number of statistics from the past 24 hours that it says shows its efforts to combat the pandemic.

The nearly 300 soldiers trained to perform epidemiological surveys performed 3,406 of them over the past 24 hours.

The Home Front Command also took 8,793 of the 46,153 coronavirus samples taken today. Another 12,829 samples were transported to laboratories from drive-in testing facilities by the IDF. Ninety soldiers are currently working in coronavirus testing labs, the military says.

In addition, the IDF is currently operating 21 coronavirus hotels — 17 of which are being used to treat the 3,096 people who have confirmed cases of COVID-19 but only light symptoms, and four that are used to house 645 people who need to be in quarantine.

— Judah Ari Gross