10 more American soldiers, family members test positive for COVID-19 upon arrival in S. Korea

All News 14:47 November 05, 2020

SEOUL, Nov. 5 (Yonhap) -- Five American service members and five family members have tested positive for the new coronavirus upon arrival in South Korea from the United States over the past two weeks, the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) said Thursday.

One service member and one dependent arrived at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, about 70 kilometers south of Seoul, on U.S. government-chartered flights, and four service members and four family members arrived on international commercial flights at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, between Oct. 28 and Nov. 2, according to the U.S. military.

Five of them tested positive on their first mandatory COVID-19 test prior to entering quarantine, and the others were confirmed to have been infected on their mandatory test required to exit quarantine, USFK said.

All USFK-affiliated individuals arriving in South Korea are required to undergo a virus test and are quarantined for 14 days. Medical personnel administer a second test prior to their release.

The latest cases brought the total number of USFK-related COVID-19 infections to 288, most of whom tested positive upon their arrival here.

"Thorough cleaning of all transportation assets and quarantine rooms has been completed," USFK said in a statement. "None of the new arrivals have interacted with anyone residing within USFK installations or the local community.

Starting Aug. 30, the U.S. Department of Army has required all American soldiers, family members and other related civilians to have a negative test result for the new coronavirus prior to their departure for South Korea. But the requirement does not apply to service members from the Navy, the Air Force and the Marine Corps.

On Thursday, South Korea added 125 more COVID-19 cases, including 108 local infections, raising the total caseload to 27,050, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).