Minister Jeong: "Current Situation is Wartime"... Rapid Increase in COVID-19 Cases in Korea and USFK

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu Reporter] Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-du defined the current situation regarding the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) as "equivalent to wartime."

On the 28th, the Ministry of National Defense announced that immediately after returning from a visit to the United States, Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-du held an emergency major commanders' meeting via video conference and instructed, "Consider the current situation as wartime and deploy all resources."

The major commanders' meeting included the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, commanders of each military branch, the 2nd Operational Command responsible for the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions, the Armed Forces Medical Command, the Armed Forces Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense Command, and the Armed Forces Nursing Academy. They discussed ▲ blocking the spread of infection within the military ▲ inter-ministerial response support ▲ maintaining military readiness measures.

Currently, the Armed Forces Daegu Hospital has a total of 98 beds consisting of 4 negative pressure beds, 6 single rooms, and 14 six-person rooms. Additional construction work, including partition walls, is underway to secure 300 beds by the 5th of next month. Twenty-five personnel from the 2nd Engineer Brigade were deployed for preliminary construction work. The Armed Forces Daejeon Hospital, which operates 36 negative pressure beds, plans to secure a total of 88 beds.

Accordingly, the military will implement high-intensity infection prevention measures at key military facilities such as command and control rooms and emergency standby rooms. Even if some personnel become infected and spaces are temporarily closed, preemptive measures such as dividing operational spaces will be implemented to ensure normal operation of forces.

These military measures are due to the fact that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases within the military is not decreasing. As of 5 p.m. on this day, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the military increased to 27.

The confirmed COVID-19 cases within the military are rapidly increasing by branch: 15 in the Army, 1 in the Navy, 1 in the Marine Corps, and 10 in the Air Force. On this day, one more soldier at the Air Force Cheongju Air Base was also confirmed positive. Currently, according to health authorities' standards, 920 people are in quarantine, and according to the military's own standards, approximately 9,480 people are under preventive quarantine. The number of quarantined personnel has exceeded 10,000.

The U.S. Forces Korea also reported a third confirmed COVID-19 case. The U.S. Forces Korea Command announced on its website that "a Korean worker at Camp Carroll (a U.S. military base in Chilgok, Gyeongbuk) tested positive for COVID-19," marking "the third confirmed COVID-19 case among U.S. Forces Korea personnel."

Due to the rapid increase in COVID-19 cases in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions on the 19th of this month, U.S. Forces Korea raised the risk level from 'Low' to 'Moderate.' On the 25th, the risk level was further elevated to 'High' across the entire Korean Peninsula and remains at that level. With the risk level raised to high, U.S. Forces Korea has implemented restrictions on entry to all units and limited meetings, gatherings, and temporary deployments unless essential for mission execution.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.