American soldier, 23, based in South Korea is diagnosed with coronavirus as public health offiicials warn spread in the US is inevitable
US military says a soldier based in South Korea tested positive for coronavirus
The 23-year-old man is in self quarantine at his off-base residence
The soldier was originally based in Camp Caroll in a town near the southeastern city of Daegu, where most of South Korea’s virus cases are clustered
About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea
By ANDREW COURT
DAILYMAIL.COM
26 February 2020
An American soldier stationed in South Korea has tested positive for coronavirus, becoming the first U.S. service member infected.
A U.S. military statement said Wednesday that the 23-year-old man is in self quarantine at his off-base residence.
The soldier was originally based in Camp Caroll in a town near the southeastern city of Daegu, where most of South Korea’s virus cases are clustered.
South Korea said Wednesday it had almost 1,150 cases of the new coronavirus, the biggest outbreak outside mainland China.
About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea as deterrence against potential aggression from North Korea.
According to The Military Times, the infected soldier was at Camp Carroll between February 21 and 25, and visited neighboring Camp Walker this past Monday.
The same day, the United States Forces Korea (USFK) revealed that a widow of a retired soldier, aged 61, had contracted the virus and had visited Camp Walker’s Post Exchange on February 12 and 15, when she may have been contagious.
The USFK is now conducting ‘contract tracing’ to see who else could have been exposed.
South Korea has reported 169 more cases of a new virus, mostly in of Daegu and nearby areas, bringing its total number of infections to 1,146.
China on Wednesday reported another 406 cases of the new virus, along with 52 additional deaths, all of them in hard-hit Hubei province and all but 10 in the epicenter of the city of Wuhan.
China has recorded a total of 2,715 deaths from the coronavirus, and 78,064 cases in all.
In Daegu, the South Korean government has been mobilizing public health tools to contain the virus.
The country has also reported 11 fatalities from the virus, mostly at a hospital in the county of Cheongdo, near Daegu. Many of the cases have been tied to a Daegu church and authorities were tested its local members.
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