×

South Korean virus cases jump again, 1st US soldier infected

In this photo taken and released by Malaysia's Ministry of Health, a health worker looks at a woman and children arrive at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Malaysia, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020, after being evacuated from China's Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak. U.S. health officials warned Tuesday that the burgeoning coronavirus is certain to spread more widely in the country at some point, even as their counterparts in Europe and Asia scrambled to contain new outbreaks of the illness. (Muzzafar Kasim/Malaysia's Ministry of Health via AP)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean virus cases jumped again today and the U.S. military confirmed its first case among American soldiers based in the Asian country, with his case and many others connected to a southeastern city with a growing illness cluster.

South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 216 of the 284 new cases were in Daegu, where the government has been mobilizing public health tools to contain the spread of the outbreak, and in neighboring towns.

The U.S. military said the 23-year-old soldier was in self-quarantine at his off-base residence. He had been based in Camp Carroll in a town near Daegu, and visited both Carroll and nearby Camp Walker in recent days, according to the statement.

South Korean authorities and U.S. military health professionals were tracing his contacts to determine if other people may have been exposed.

About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea as deterrence against potential aggression from North Korea. United States Forces Korea previously said a widowed dependent had the virus, the first case involving a USFK-related individual. South Korea’s 600,000-member military has reported 18 cases and quarantined thousands of soldiers as a precaution.

Bowling alleys, movie theaters and a golf course at four U.S. bases were closed after the soldier’s case was confirmed, Col. Edward Ballanco, commander of the U.S. Army Garrison Daegu, said. All restaurants at the bases, and at Camp George in Daegu, could now provide only takeout meals with soldiers and family members prohibited from dining there, he said.

“This is a setback, it’s true, there’s no getting around that, but it’s not the end of the war,” he said on a video message posted on Facebook.

“We are very well equipped to fight this thing off. I am certain that, that soldier that has tested positive, he’s on his way up to Camp Humphreys today, is going to get better medical care than anyone else in Korea who has the coronavirus.”

South Korea now has 1,261 confirmed infections of the virus and 11 fatalities from the COVID-19 illness it causes. The national government has been channeling medical personnel, protective suits and other supplies to Daegu, and there are concerns the local hospitals are being overwhelmed and fatigued doctors are becoming vulnerable to infections.

“This week will be critical in the fight to combat the illness,” Prime Minister Chung Se-kyun said at a meeting in Daegu City Hall to discuss quarantine efforts.

The number of cases were expected to rise as health workers finish testing hundreds of members of the Daegu branch of a church that has the country’s biggest cluster of infections. The Shincheonji Church of Jesus, which mainstream Christian organizations describe as a cult, provided a list of 212,000 members nationwide to government authorities who plan to widen the screening. Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip said authorities plan to find and test churchgoers exhibiting symptoms first.

South Korea’s virus patients also include a 25-year-old cabin crew member of Korean Air, the country’s biggest airline, who worked on a flight that departed from Israel and arrived in South Korea on Feb. 16, according to Jung Eun-kyeong, director of the KCDC. The flight also carried a group of tourists, of which 30 have tested positive.

China, by far, still has the most cases and deaths from the illness, though its daily increase in cases has slowed recently.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today