US Army soldier tests positive for COVID-19 in South Korea, marking the first time a US service member is confirmed to have the disease
Ahn Young-joon/AP
A US soldier stationed in South Korea "tested positive" for COVID-19, the military said in a statement on Wednesday morning.
The unnamed soldier, a 23-year-old man, is in self-quarantine at an off-base residence.
The incident marks the first time a US service member has tested positive for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
A US soldier stationed in South Korea has "tested positive" for COVID-19, the military said in a statement on Wednesday morning.
The 23-year-old unnamed male soldier is in self-quarantine at an off-base residence, the US military added. Health officials are investigating whether others were exposed, as the soldier had visited several US bases in the country, including Camps Walker and Carroll, in the past week.
The incident marks the first time a US service member tested positive for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
United States Forces Korea "is implementing all appropriate control measures to help control the spread of COVID-19 and remains at risk level 'high' for USFK peninsula-wide as a prudent measure to protect the force," the military said in a statement.
A 61-year-old widowed US military dependent was previously found to have tested positive in the country on Monday, prompting US forces to raise the risk level to "high."
The woman visited a post exchange, the military's shopping center, at Camp Walker in Daegu, where South Korean health officials have cautioned there was a "high possibility that COVID-19 could spread nationwide."
"We are going to begin to limit all soldier movement," US Army Col. Michael Tremblay, the garrison commander of Camp Humphreys, said on Tuesday.
South Korea is addressing an influx of confirmed coronavirus cases, which have passed 1,100 in the country. At least 11 people there have died of COVID-19.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday issued a travel advisory warning that people should avoid all nonessential travel to South Korea.
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