The Australian Defence Force (ADF) will increase its support to Victoria to help it contain the recent outbreak of COVID-19. Following a request from the Victorian government, around 1,000 ADF personnel will deploy in Victoria. Up to 850 ADF members will provide support to hotel quarantine monitoring, while around 200 personnel will provide logistical and medical support for public testing initiatives.
Minister for Defence Linda Reynolds said the additional personnel will be deployed over the coming days. “Defence has been providing support to Victoria since April and I’m pleased we’re able to rapidly increase our assistance to help Victoria respond to its current COVID-19 circumstances,” Reynolds said. “The COVID-19 pandemic requires a proactive national response and Defence is well postured to provide scalable support to states and territories.”
Under Operation COVID-19 ASSIST, Defence has been providing customised support to state and territory authorities, to reinforce and expand their capacity to respond to the pandemic. This additional assistance to the Victorian government supplements existing planning support to Emergency Management Victoria and the Department of Health and Human Services.
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