An Army soldier and a civilian worker for the military tested positive for the new coronavirus, the defense ministry said Friday.

The service member stationed in the eastern coastal county of Goseong, about 160 kilometers northeast of Seoul, has been quarantined upon returning from vacation earlier this month and undertook a virus test after his mother tested positive Wednesday, according to the ministry.

Some 70 people who had close contact with the soldier all tested negative, it added.

Since last week, the ministry has restricted all service members from vacationing and off-installation trips to stem the spread of the virus.

Another patient is a civilian employee in the city of Yangju, north of Seoul, who tested positive earlier in the day after the infection of his father, the ministry said.

"Contact tracing is under way, and around 60 people of his base are taking virus tests," the ministry said in a message to reporters.

The total number of COVID-19 patients among military members stood at 99 as of 10 a.m. Friday.

Currently, 1,153 service members are in isolation in accordance with the health authorities' guidelines, and the military has quarantined an additional 2,781 people under stricter anti-virus schemes of its own as a preventive step.

The number of COVID-19 infections has been on the rise nationwide at an alarming rate since mid-August. On Friday, South Korea reported 371 more cases, mostly in Seoul and the surrounding metropolitan area, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). (Yonhap)