After the number of confirmed Covid-19 deaths jumped to 18—with 1,020 infections—Brazil’s Armed Forces have begun a protocol to launch a Joint Operation Center, a form of “situation room.” According to the Defense Ministry, state and municipal authorities have already requested the army’s support to tame the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The joint operations center will allow the Navy, Army, and Air Force to offer support for screening patients and set up field hospitals. In São Paulo, the vast Ibirapuera Park in the south of the city center is likely to be transformed into an Armed Forces medical site.