Air Force Academy working to contain coronavirus outbreak among basic cadets
The Air Force Academy is dealing with a coronavirus outbreak among freshmen, according to a school spokesman.
Air Force Academy Public Affairs Deputy Director Michael Kucharek declined to say how many of the basic cadets, who arrived on campus north of Colorado Springs on June 25, have tested positive for the infectious disease.
“There is not an exact count but I can say it is far lower than what it says on social media,” he said, referring to posts online that apparently claim more than 100 basic cadets have tested positive.
“We have a solid medical response plan in place. We are working very closely with our public health professionals and following guidelines from the Department of Defense and the Centers for Disease Control.”
During in-processing for the nearly 1,200 men and women entering the academy, school officials emphasized the safeguards it had put in place to prevent a spread of COVID-19, which has killed more than 120,000 Americans.
Those included keeping the so-called doolies 6 feet apart in formations and wearing masks.
An incoming cadet takes some hand sanitizer from an upperclassman before being sworn in as a cadet Thursday, June 25, 2020, during In-Processing Day at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. The COVID-19 pandemic gave the annual tradition at the Air Force Academy a much different look with cadets in masks, hand sanitizer at every station and the class of 2024 social distancing as they went through the process.
Incoming cadets run from the bus to the footprints that were spaced 6 feet apart Thursday, June 25, 2020, at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. The COVID-19 pandemic gave the annual tradition at the Air Force Academy a much different look with cadets in masks, hand sanitizer at every station and the class of 2024 social distancing as they went through the process. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock)
An incoming cadet takes some hand sanitizer from an upper classman before being sworn in as a cadet Thursday, June 25, 2020, during In-Processing Day at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. The COVID-19 pandemic gave the annual tradition at the Air Force Academy a much different look with cadets in masks, hand sanitizer at every station and the class of 2024 social distancing as they went through the process. (The Gazette, Christian Murdock)
Cadets wait for the Wings of Blue presentation under the chapel on Denim Days at the Air Force Academy
.