Fort Bliss ready to raise risk level to ‘substantial’ as number of virus cases goes to 4

FORT BLISS, Texas -- Fort Bliss was preparing Monday night to upgrade the risk level condition the post is operating under after a fourth member of a U.S. Army reserve unit assigned there tested positive for the coronavirus.

Within the next couple of days, military officials indicated they may go to "HP Con Charlie" - a level that would indicate the virus poses a substantial threat and the likelihood of community spread.

Currently, the four confirmed cases at the post all involve members of the 77th Human Resources Company out of New York City, which had recently reported for training on Fort Bliss.

"The NY-based unit arrived five days prior to discovering the (first) positive case, and when the case was identified we immediately placed the entire unit in quarantine in order to reduce further spread. Additionally, we are now placing any unit or Soldier arriving from a CONUS-based CDC 'hot spots' into quarantine prior to training," said a Fort Bliss statement.

The four infections are the only known cases of the coronavirus at Fort Bliss. Counting those four military cases, that brings the total number of virus cases in El Paso County to 14.

As part of the preparations for "HP Con Charlie," Fort Bliss outlined some planned gate closures and access changes to occur. Those are detailed below in this outline provided by military officials.

Along with the notification of a fourth case and plans for "HP Con Charlie," Fort Bliss officials also sought to publicly provide a detailed Q&A on the actions being taken on the post to minimize the virus outbreak. They posted the below item to social media on Monday.