U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said only a general update on cases in the military will now be made public
It comes as 280 service members have now tested positive, a jump in 53 cases in one day
A further 81 civilian employees, 67 dependents and 40 contractors have tested positive
Esper claims releasing information would put troops at risk
He has banned troop movement overseas for 60 days including the return on troops from Afghanistan as promised in a peace deal with the Taliban
The freeze will affect 90,000 service members
The majority of the coronavirus cases in the military are based at home where forces have been deployed to the front lines of the growing crisis