The top general of the Guard also confirms that fewer than 200 guards have received COVID-19.
Up to 7,000 National Guard will remain in Washington for about seven more weeks to assist federal law enforcement agencies concerned about possible domestic disturbances, the Guard’s top general said.
“We’re probably looking at mid-March now,” General Daniel Hokanson told reporters on Saturday.
The size of that force can be adjusted depending on requests from local law enforcement agencies, he added. Whether the remaining guards will remain armed will be decided by federal law enforcement.
A US official told ABC News the agencies saw “chatter” among extremist groups discussing possible disturbances in the country’s capital.
As for the troops that make up the 7,000, Hokanson added, “Some of them will be the people who are already there. Some states are going to rotate other people, and we’re working very closely with the states to determine that.”
Hokanson made his remarks when he made his daily visit to the guards who are securing the Capitol. At the Capitol’s spacious visitor center, he also met guards from Indiana and Virginia, who took a short break and asked if they were getting everything they needed.
On Friday, guards were again allowed to use the facility for rest periods after the public outcry generated by photos of them resting in an unheated parking garage. Use of the garage occurred after a request was made to the security guard to stop using indoor locations on Capitol grounds.
Hokanson also confirmed that less than 200 of the 25,000 National Guard who provided security on the inauguration day had contracted COVID-19, an infection rate of less than 1%.
“We’re doing everything we can, but we think that number is low,” said Hokanson. The infected guards will remain in Washington while sick as some of the 25,000 who attended for the inauguration day began to return to their home state on Saturday.