Force Health Protection Guidance (Supplement 15) Department of Defense Guidance for Coronavirus Disease 2019 Laboratory Testing Services

 Jan. 19, 2021

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Last week, the department released the memo for Force Health Protection Guidance (Supplement 15) Department of Defense Guidance for Coronavirus Disease 2019 Laboratory Testing Services.

The memo provides updates to previous DoD coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) laboratory testing guidance and rescinds Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Memorandum, "Force Health Protection Guidance (Supplement 13) - Department of Defense Guidance for Corona virus Disease 2019 Clinical Laboratory Diagnostic Testing Services," August 24, 2020. This force health protection (FHP) supplement provides guidance on COVID-19 testing for eligible persons suspected of having contracted COVID-19, and applies Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) testing guidance in the DoD context. DoD Components will continue to employ clinical diagnostic testing 1 in accordance with this guidance. This guidance also supports surveillance testing and screening testing (asymptomatic individuals) conducted to decrease operational risk within DoD, consistent with applicable law and in accordance with Under Secretary of Defense Memorandum, "Force Health Protection Guidance (Supplement 11) - Department of Defense Guidance for Coronavirus Disease 2019 Surveillance and Screening with Testing," June 11, 2020. The Secretaries of the Military Departments, the Heads of the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) or DoD Components, and the Commanders of the Geographic Combatant Commands may implement more restrictive guidance and additional FHP measures based on mission requirements and local risk assessments in consultation with their medical staffs and appropriate public health authorities.

The memo for the Force Health Protection Guidance (Supplement 15) Department of Defense Guidance for Coronavirus Disease 2019 Laboratory Testing Services can be found here.