Military reports 3 COVID-19 cases

Published : Jul 9, 2021 - 11:29 Updated : Jul 9, 2021 - 11:29

Medical workers take samples from all new recruits to test for COVID-19 at an Army boot camp in Nonsan, 210 kilometers south of Seoul, on Thursday, as a mass infection broke out there. (Yonhap)

The military has reported three additional coronavirus cases, the defense ministry said Friday, as South Korea saw the highest-ever daily COVID-19 infections since the outbreak of the pandemic last year.

An Army officer in Goyang, northwest of Seoul, and a soldier in the southeastern city of Gyeongsan were confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 after developing symptoms, while an officer in the southwestern city of Taean was found to be infected after coming into contact with a person who tested positive earlier, according to the ministry.

No additional cases were reported from the Korea Army Training Center in the central city of Nonsan, where a mass infection broke out. As of Thursday, 77 newly enlisted soldiers at the boot camp had tested positive this week.

The latest cases raised the total number of infections reported among the military population to 1,119.

The ministry said 266,616 troops in their 20s, or 67 percent of the age group, had received their second doses of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine as of Thursday.

Nationwide, South Korea recorded 1,316 more COVID-19 infections Friday, prompting health authorities to impose the toughest virus curbs in the greater Seoul area, home to half of the country's 51 million population. The nation's total caseload stood at 164,028. (Yonhap)