This photo, taken July 14, 2021, shows a US military reception center at Incheon airport, west of Seoul. (Yonhap)
Twenty-three people affiliated with US Forces Korea (USFK), including 18 service members, have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the US military has said, amid the fourth wave of the pandemic across the country.
Of them, 11 service members were from Kunsan Air Base in the western city of Gunsan. They were confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 after showing symptoms or coming into contact with the infected individuals, according to USFK in a release Monday.
At Camp Casey in Dongducheon, 40 kilometers north of Seoul, a service member and two South Korean employees were found to be infected after developing symptoms, while three other soldiers have tested positive in the course of the authorities' contact tracing of infected individuals.
Three service members at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, and two contractors and a Department of Defense official at K-16 Air Base in Seongnam, just south of Seoul, have also tested positive after developing symptoms.
The latest cases -- confirmed between July 9-17 -- raised the total number of infections reported among the USFK-affiliated population to 1,085.
The USFK has reported a series of infections from its bases across the country in recent weeks despite having completed vaccinating more than 80 percent of its population. (Yonhap)