[Asia Economy Reporter Yang Nak-gyu]Four soldiers at another unit near the 8th Division subordinate unit in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, where a cluster infection of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) occurred, have also tested positive.
The four additional confirmed cases are believed to have come into contact with confirmed patients from the 8th Division A unit, where the cluster infection occurred, at the military base church, raising concerns about the spread of COVID-19 between units.
According to the Ministry of National Defense on the 24th, four soldiers tested positive for COVID-19 at the garrisons of three other units near the A unit, where 14 confirmed cases were reported. The three units are stationed at the same garrison.
The additional confirmed cases are presumed to have come into contact with infected individuals after visiting the church within the garrison on the 19th of this month. Six confirmed patients from the A unit, where the cluster infection occurred, visited the church on the same day, and about 80 soldiers attended the religious event. The soldiers who attended the church sang hymns together, and some were found to have removed their masks inside the church.
The military is conducting PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests on about 800 soldiers, including those who visited the church and soldiers from the three units. The military explained that it has restricted the movement of all personnel in the three units where additional confirmed cases occurred and implemented joint quarantine measures.
As a result, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Pocheon military units due to the spread within the military starting from the subordinate units of the 8th Division has reached 18.
Previously, from the 21st to the 22nd of this month, 14 confirmed cases were reported in the A unit. A career counseling instructor who visited the A unit on the 16th of this month also tested positive. The instructor reportedly had mild symptoms related to COVID-19 at the time of the visit but was said to have removed their mask inside the unit.
The Central Disease Control Headquarters and the military estimate that the COVID-19 spread within the military originated from this instructor. It has been confirmed that the instructor did not visit the garrisons where additional confirmed cases occurred.
The cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases within the military has increased to 76 (58 recovered). According to health authorities, 275 individuals are in military quarantine, and according to the military's own standards, 1,198 are under preventive quarantine.
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