New nursing officers head to Daegu

Military nurse officers celebrate their commission ceremony at Korea Armed Forces Nursing Academy in Daejeon, March 3, 2020. (Ministry of National Defense)

A batch of newly commissioned nursing officers headed to Daegu on Tuesday, the southeastern city hit hardest by the novel coronavirus, to help treat a skyrocketing number of infected patients.

Commissioned as lieutenants a week earlier than scheduled, the 75 officers will work at the military’s hospital in Daegu, one of several national centers treating COVID-19.

Freshly-commissioned military nurse officers attend a lecture on the coronavirus before their dispatch to Daegu at Korea Armed Forces Nursing Academy in Daejeon, March 2, 2020. (Yonhap)

“Patients come before me,” Lt. Kim Seul-gi said. She was one of the officers attending the graduation ceremony for the Armed Forces Nursing Academy in Daejeon. Lt. Shin Na-mi said, “We part ways now, but we stand as one to carry out our mission.”

The ceremony, which was held without outside guests, including family members, was livestreamed in real time on YouTube and Facebook. Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo was at the event.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Korea reported about 5,000 infections with 29 deaths. Thirty-one members of the Korean military tested positive for COVID-19, and 8,270 service members were under quarantine.

By Choi Si-young (siyoungchoi@heraldcorp.com)