As of Monday, Parris Island closed to new recruits after more than 20 people there tested positive for the highly contagious virus that has altered life around the globe.
Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island will not accept new trainees until at least mid-April, Capt. Bryan McDonnell, a spokesman there, told Military.com.
There are more than 20 positive cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, at the training depot. That includes cases among recruits and drill instructors.
“Just like everywhere, we’re seeing an increase in cases because this is a pandemic,” McDonnell said. “We’re still combating it.”
Marine Commandant Gen. David Berger said the health of Marines, recruits and their families during the global pandemic remains the service’s highest priority.
“With that in mind, we’ve paused this week’s shipping of new recruits to Parris Island and will revise our overall shipping plan to ensure we are able to meet the nation’s needs while protecting its next generation of Marines.”
Citing fears of the spreading coronavirus, Parris Island had canceled graduation ceremonies starting with the Friday, March 13 graduating class.
The Marine Corps will continue shipping recruits to its West Coast boot camp base in San Diego, which hasn’t seen as high a number of COVID-19 cases as Parris Island.
Training for those already at Parris Island will continue as scheduled, but will be done with several new social-distancing measures in place, per guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That includes spreading recruits out in chow halls where they eat and in squad bays where they sleep. The base is also recording Sunday worship sermons, so trainees aren’t gathering in the base chapel.
When Parris Island resumes accepting new recruits, there will be a 14-day staging period in which they’ll be monitored by medical personnel and staff before they begin training.
Brig. Gen. James Glynn, Parris Island’s commander, and Sgt. Maj. William Carter, the top-enlisted leader there, said in a letter to base staff that they will expand facilities on base for screening new recruits or those facing isolation and quarantine.
“This aggressive posture is necessary to protect all of us,” they wrote. “… This is a concern to us, just as it is to you, and it is being constantly addressed at every level to minimize the threat and mitigate this impact.”
