Civil Air Patrol Using Flights To Help In The Pandemic

(CBS DETROIT) - Covid-19 response is taking place in the skies with the Civil Air Patrol.

"I did not realize that we could help in such a big way during a pandemic," said Harley Jones, Cadet Lt. Col. Civil Air Patrol.

The auxiliary of the United States Air Force is spreading its wings and putting boots on the ground to respond to the crisis in Michigan.

"So far to date as of this morning we've had over 10,000 man hours of support umm in a variety of missions," said Col. Leo Burke, Civil Air Patrol/Michigan Homeland Security Director.

The Civil Air Patrol is using their aviation skills to help in the pandemic by transporting Covid-19 test kits across the state.

"Primarily we're delivering fresh test kits to the Upper Peninsula and then a couple days later we go in and retrieve those and bring them back to testing centers generally in the Lansing area where they have the capacity to test them all," said Burke.

CAP is known for its flying ability but duties were carried out beyond the skies.

Members also operated a local field hospital for Covid-19 patients.

"Me and another cadet went to the TCF Center to help with a lot of admin work. We helped with the demobilization. We were doing a lot of clean-up and then we did a lot of restock," said Jones.

"We got in front of it and started doing whatever we could do to support the mission. Whether it was flying test kits or the staff that we had at TCF at the Regional Care Center. The response was so huge and so successful," said Burke.

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