4 Additional COVID-19 Cases Confirmed Among Army and Air Force Officers

On the 17th, when the government raised the social distancing level in the metropolitan area to Level 1.5, a citizen visiting a screening clinic in Songpa-gu, Seoul, is undergoing a COVID-19 test. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter]Two individuals, a civilian worker and a military officer, tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) at an Army unit in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province. Additionally, one officer each tested positive at Air Force units in Seosan and Suwon.

According to the Ministry of National Defense on the 17th, civilian worker A was confirmed positive after being identified as having recently met with a confirmed case from the Armed Forces Welfare Service, a direct unit of the Ministry of National Defense located in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. The Welfare Service recently experienced a cluster of confirmed cases. Officer B, who had contact with A, was tested and confirmed positive. The military is continuing to trace the movements and contacts of the confirmed cases and conducting further testing on those exposed.

The officer from the Seosan unit, which recently experienced a cluster infection, tested positive while in self-quarantine, and the officer from the Suwon unit was confirmed positive after a family member they had contact with during a holiday tested positive.

Meanwhile, the military conducted emergency disinfection of some shared facilities at the Ministry of National Defense building in Yongsan after it was discovered that an employee working there had visited the same restaurant as a confirmed case during a recent leave.

A military official explained, "We were informed that one employee sat next to a confirmed case at a local restaurant visited during leave," adding, "This employee was tested for COVID-19 and confirmed negative."

As of this date, the cumulative number of confirmed cases within the military has surpassed 200, reaching 201. Among them, 40 are currently receiving treatment, while the rest have recovered.

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