 |
| (Yonhap) |
A civilian employee of the Cyber Operations Command located at the defense ministry compound tested positive for the new coronavirus, officials said Wednesday, in the first virus case to be reported from the ministry premises in two months.
The case prompted the authorities to carry out disinfection work at several facilities inside the defense ministry compound in Seoul, though the employee has not reported to work this week after family members were told to take virus tests.
His wife tested positive the previous day, officials said.
“He has not come to the office this week in accordance with the guidelines,” a ministry official said. “We are doing disinfection work at command facilities, and contact tracing is under way.”
It was the first coronavirus case to be reported from the ministry compound since late June, when a teacher and some children at the ministry-affiliated day care center tested positive.
The latest case has yet to be added to the military’s official COVID-19 tally, which is released once a day and involves total infections as of 10 a.m.
Another patient, an Army reserve soldier who works at a community center in Seoul, was also reported, according to the defense ministry.
The private first class, who serves as a full-time reserve service member, appears to have been infected after dining with a confirmed civilian patient last Friday in violation of a no-movement order that the ministry issued for all service members out of virus concerns.
Officials said they will review whether to launch a probe after his recovery.
The solider commutes to the office from his home without having to live in military barracks.
“He tested positive yesterday, and three of his colleagues who came into contact with him also underwent virus tests and are awaiting results,” the ministry said in a statement.
Currently, 1,055 service members are in isolation in accordance with the health authorities’ guidelines, and the military has quarantined an additional 3,809 people under stricter anti-virus schemes of its own as a preventive step.
The number of COVID-19 infections has been on the rise nationwide at an alarming rate since mid-August. On Wednesday,
South Korea reported 320 more cases, mostly in Seoul and the surrounding metropolitan area, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). (Yonhap)
