3 more newly enlisted soldiers at boot camp test positive for virus

Published : Jul 23, 2021 - 13:08 Updated : Jul 23, 2021 - 13:08

A soldier stands guard at the gate of a boot camp in Nonsan, around 200 kilometers south of Seoul, on July 7, 2021, as 37 conscripts at the camp tested positive for the new coronavirus as of 10 a.m. the same day, in the file photo. (Yonhap)

Three more newly enlisted soldiers at an Army boot camp have tested positive for the new coronavirus, bringing the total caseload recently reported at the base to 122, the defense ministry said Friday.

The soldiers at the Korea Army Training Center in the central city of Nonsan were confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 while in quarantine following the mass outbreak at the base earlier this month, according to the ministry.

In Jinhae, some 410 kilometers southeast of Seoul, a Navy officer was found to be infected after a family member first tested positive for the virus.

The latest cases raised the total number of infections reported among the military population to 1,481.

As of Thursday, 90,886 troops aged 30 and older, or 78 percent of the age group, had received their second dose of the coronavirus vaccine, the ministry said.

Inoculations for soldiers aged under 30 were wrapped up last week, with around 94 percent of the age group agreeing to them.

Nationwide, South Korea added 1,630 new infections Friday, bringing the total caseload to 185,733. (Yonhap)