The Pentagon on Thursday announced that the US military would no longer bar people who had been hospitalized with COVID-19 from serving in its ranks.

Defense Department personnel head Matthew Donovan said he had "rescinded" rules on the matter, which the military had put in place in early May out of concern over long-term respiratory damage from the disease.

"There was some interim and draft guidance... that I rescinded," Donovan told reporters during a press conference.

He noted that the revision was just one part of a larger update and that health professionals would be looking into further recommendations.

However if a new recruit has not yet fully recovered from COVID-19 or is still suffering from ongoing side effects, he or she may not be able to join the armed forces immediately.

Each branch of the military is able to issue waivers concerning the matter.

The US military has suffered a total of 5,888 COVID-19 cases as of Thursday, 129 of which had to be hospitalized and two of which have died.

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GAO report: Women leave the military sooner than men
Washington DC (UPI) May 20, 2020
Women make up an increasing percentage of the U.S. military but remain more likely to leave the service, a Government Accountability Office report indicates. The 80-page report, released Tuesday, largely compares active-duty female service member retention and promotion from fiscal year 2004 to fiscal year 2018. The number of women in the military increased slightly, from 15.1 percent of the total personnel force to 16.1 percent, but in 2018, 8.6 percent of women left the military, compa ... read more