At least 13 soldiers from an Army base near the inter-Korean border tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, raising fears of further infections in enclosed military barracks and in the community.

Two soldiers at a 220-strong unit in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday after showing symptoms of fever the previous day. Eleven more cases from the unit were reported Wednesday, raising the total at the unit to 13.

Some 50 soldiers who came into close contact with the confirmed patients were put in isolation. All members are being tested for COVID-19, with the number of infections expected to rise further, according to officials.

While the epidemiological inspection into how the first two soldiers contracted the virus is underway, they were found to have gone on vacation early last month, and one of them also traveled off post recently, officials said.

“There are no confirmed patients who came into contact with citizens or used facilities in the city days before and after they showed symptoms, according to what we found so far,” an official from the Pocheon city government was quoted as saying.

Since the military reported its first COVID-19 case in February, the total number of infections among the military population increased to 66 nationwide.

On Wednesday, South Korea reported 63 new COVID-19 cases, with 34 imported from overseas and 29 that were locally transmitted, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The total caseload rose to 13,879.

Not all the cases linked to the military unit were included in the KCDC tally.

As for locally transmitted cases, 16 were registered in Seoul, eight in Gyeonggi Province, four in Incheon and one in Daegu. The cases are linked to several clusters involving a nursing home in western Seoul, offices in southern Seoul, church events and door-to-door sales.

Of the 34 imported cases, 19 were detected during the quarantine screening process at the border and the rest while the individuals were under mandatory self-quarantine in South Korea. Twenty-eight were from Asia -- including 11 from Uzbekistan, seven from the Philippines, four from Kazakhstan and two from Indonesia. Five were from the United States and one from Europe.

Imported cases remain a major concern for health authorities. For the past two weeks, 59.7 percent of COVID-19 cases have been imported from overseas.

The number of cases involving South Korean nationals who returned home from a construction site in Iraq on a chartered flight July 14 rose to 45, according to the KCDC data. Among the 105 returnees, some 50 showed symptoms upon arrival at Incheon International Airport.

The government plans to send two military aircraft to the Middle Eastern country on Thursday to bring some 290 workers home safely. Some 600 Korean workers are still in Iraq, where some 3,000 cases are being reported daily, for construction projects.

So far, 12,698 people, or 91.5 percent, have been released from quarantine upon making full recoveries, up 55 from a day earlier. Some 884 people are receiving medical treatment under quarantine.

One more person died, raising the death toll to 297. The overall fatality rate stands at 2.14 percent -- 2.55 percent for men and 1.81 percent for women. The rate is much higher for those in their 80s and over -- 25.08 percent -- and those in their 70s -- 9.41 percent.

The country has carried out 1,492,071 tests since Jan. 3, with 21,751 people awaiting results as of Wednesday.



(laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)