Thousands of UK troops stood down from Covid-19 alert
Jonathan Beale
BBC defence correspondent
Copyright: Reuters
The Ministry of Defence is to scale back its military “Covid Support Force” by standing down thousands of troops who had been placed on high readiness.
More than 20,000 armed forces personnel from all three services were put on alert in March to help the government response to Covid-19.
However, only about 4,000 have so far been deployed – fulfilling tasks such as helping construct the Nightingale temporary hospitals, delivering protective equipment and carrying out testing. Their work will continue.
But thousands of other service personnel who have not been used will now resume normal duties. The MoD is expected to issue a statement later today confirming that the Covid Support Force will be reduced to fewer than 10,000 personnel.