Unreduced COVID-19 Cases Among US-ROK Forces

As social distancing was adjusted to Level 1, military personnel's leave, which had been restricted to prevent the spread of COVID-19, was fully reinstated. On the 12th, at Seoul Station, a soldier is waiting in the lounge to use the TMO service. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] As the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) continues domestically, the number of confirmed cases related to the US Forces Korea (USFK) has also increased by 13.

According to the USFK Command on the 30th, the additional confirmed cases include 11 soldiers who arrived in Korea between the 9th and 29th of this month and 2 US military family members who entered through Osan Air Base or Incheon International Airport. Seven tested positive for COVID-19 in the first test immediately after arrival, and the remaining six were confirmed positive in the second diagnostic test during the mandatory quarantine period. All confirmed cases have been transferred to isolation treatment facilities within Camp Humphreys (Pyeongtaek US military base) and Osan Air Base for treatment. This brings the cumulative number of confirmed cases related to USFK to 382.

On the same day, one additional trainee was confirmed positive at the Army Recruit Training Battalion (Shingyodae) in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province, where the largest military cluster infection occurred, raising the cumulative confirmed cases in this unit to 72. The confirmed trainee initially tested negative in the first diagnostic test conducted immediately after the outbreak at Shingyodae but tested positive after showing symptoms during preventive quarantine and undergoing retesting. At Yeoncheon Shingyodae, test results for about 860 individuals subject to the first full inspection and about 290 recently enlisted trainees have all been reported, but soldiers who initially tested negative and later confirmed positive upon retesting have been appearing one by one for two consecutive days. In an Army unit in Cheorwon, one officer who was quarantined as a close contact of a confirmed case within the unit tested positive in a test conducted for quarantine release.

As of 10 a.m. on the same day, the total cumulative confirmed cases within the military were counted at 371, with 176 currently receiving treatment. Including three who recovered on the day, the remaining 195 have been cured. According to health authorities, the number of people in quarantine is 2,068, and the military is quarantining 2,819 individuals preventively based on its own standards.