Pentagon surging another 100 military medical troops to coronavirus-stricken hospitals across US

Some 220 military medical troops are set to deploy in the coming days to hospitals in eight states to aid staffs overburdened by the recent surge in coronavirus cases across the United States, military officials announced Friday.

The deployments of the military medical teams of doctors, nurses and respiratory therapists includes about 120 active-duty troops announced last week by President Joe Biden and another 100 announced Friday by U.S. Army North. The troops from the Army, Navy and Air Force will deploy to medical facilities in Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Texas, Army officials said.

The new wave of deployments will bring the number of active-duty military medical troops working to bolster coronavirus support to U.S. hospitals to about 400, according to Army North. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last month approved the military to deploy up to 1,000 new medical troops into U.S. hospitals, if requested by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.