The United States is pulling back from its role in spreading democratic ideals abroad under President Donald Trump.

As a resurgence of the pandemic in the fall looked set to overwhelm Portuguese care homes, the government mobilized all the resources it could. Some of the home’s residents, suddenly confined to their rooms or their floor, were bewildered and chafed at restrictions, even trying to take the elevator and escape confinement. The soldiers’ mission: fan out across the country to visit hundreds of nursing homes and help shore up their defenses against the pandemic. On top of that, nursing home staff in Portugal commonly work in several different care homes and travel between them on public transport. They have already been to more than half of the targeted 2,770 care homes.