8 Soldiers of the Army 8th Division Infected with COVID-19

Soldiers of an Army frontline unit located in Gyeonggi-do were collectively infected with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

[Asia Economy Reporter Yang Nak-gyu] Soldiers of an Army frontline unit located in Gyeonggi-do have been infected with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in large numbers.

According to military officials on the 22nd, two soldiers from the 8th Division stationed in Pocheon, Gyeonggi-do, showed fever symptoms on the afternoon of the 20th and were tested at a nearby hospital, where they were confirmed positive the next day.

As a result of conducting comprehensive testing on all personnel stationed at the base, six additional individuals classified as close contacts were confirmed positive, bringing the total number of infections in this unit to eight so far. Since the full test results have not yet been released, it is difficult to rule out the possibility of more confirmed cases. The infection route of the first two confirmed soldiers is still unclear.

Both soldiers had returned from leave in early last month, and one of them reportedly went out again on the 10th. The military is isolating about 50 close contacts within the unit, while the remaining personnel are under preventive quarantine.

Meanwhile, this confirmed case comes 20 days after the military recorded zero confirmed cases on the 2nd of this month. This brings the total cumulative number of COVID-19 cases in the military to 66. According to the Ministry of National Defense, 84 people are quarantined based on health authorities' standards, and 934 according to the military's own criteria, totaling 1,102 people in quarantine.

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