28 Georgian soldiers test positive for coronavirus in Afghanistan
The soldiers have been brought to Georgia. General Photo: Defence Ministry press office.
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Twenty-eight Georgian soldiers from NATO’s Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan have tested positive for the coronavirus and have been brought home with the help of the German Air Force earlier today, the Georgian Defence Ministry reports.
The ministry says that an Afghan personnel was the source of the infection.
The soldiers, who are undergoing treatment in Gori military hospital of central Georgia, suffer from a mild form of the virus, doctors say.
The soldiers have been transported to Georgia with a charter flight several weeks before the completion of the mission. Other Georgian soldiers who will return to the country after the completion of the mission will have to spend two weeks in quarantine,” said the ministry.
Georgia is the largest non-NATO contributor to the Resolute Support mission with 871 soldiers.
The Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan was launched in 2015 and involves more than 16,000 personnel from nearly 40 NATO member and partner countries.
The mission serves to train, advise and assist Afghan defence and security forces and support them through funding.
As of today 112 people remain infected with the coronavirus in Georgia. There are thirty-one Georgian citizens, including the soldiers, who tested positive for the coronavirus abroad and are now undergoing treatment in Georgia.
A company-sized unit of Georgian peacekeeping forces has arrived in Afghanistan to replace their colleagues for the next round of effort in NATO mission in the country.
Georgian peacekeeping troops are undergoing their final exercises before deploying to NATO's Resolute Support Mission in Georgia for the first time, with the Mission Readiness Exercise testing their preparedness for serving in the next round of tours in Afghanistan.
A Georgian soldier who became seriously ill while serving in the NATO Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan has been brought back to his homeland by the German air forces, the German Embassy to Georgia has told IPN.
The company of Georgian soldiers of the first infantry brigade has completed their tour in the Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan and returned home without losses today. General Aleksandre Kiknadze and Commander of the first infantry brigade Vice –Lieutenant Roland Dzneladze met them at the airport.
The health condition of 28 Georgian soldiers who have tested positive for the coronavirus in Afghanistan is satisfactory, says the press office of the Gori military hospital.
Ten more Georgian soldiers have tested positive for the coronavirus in Afghanistan and have been transported home to Georgia by the German Air Force earlier today. Twenty-eight other Georgian soldiers in the NATO Resolute Support Mission tested positive for the virus on July 10. Eight of the 28 soldiers, who underwent treatment in Gori hospital of central Georgia, have already recovered. The Georgian Defence Ministry says that all the 38 soldiers belong to one cluster that an Afghan personnel was the source of the infection.
A sixteenth individual has died from coronavirus-related complications in Georgia today. Head of the Georgian National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Amiran Gamkrelidze said the 72-year-old man suffered from kidney failure and several chronic diseases.
Georgia has reported 10 new cases of the coronavirus earlier today, bringing the total number of cases to 1,049. 903 of the 1,049 patients have recovered, while 16 others have died. As of today 130 people remain infected with COVID-19 in Georgia. Three of the 10 new cases are imported (one is a truck driver), five individuals had contact with infected people, while the remaining two do not know how they contracted the virus.
A company-sized unit of the Georgian Defence Forces is on its way to get involved in NATO's Resolute Support peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan, marking the latest rotational deployment of troops from Georgia in the effort.