- A US soldier stationed in South Korea "tested positive" for the coronavirus, the military said in a statement on Wednesday morning.
- The unnamed soldier, a 23-year-old male, is in self-quarantine at an off-base residence.
- The incident marks the first time a US service member tested positive for the virus.
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A US soldier stationed in South Korea "tested positive" for the coronavirus, 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 conducting an investigation into potential exposure cases after the soldier visited several US bases in the country, including Camps Walker and Carroll, throughout the week.
The incident marks the first time a US service member tested positive for the virus.
"[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, referring to the official designation of the coronavirus.
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 women visited a post exchange, the military's shopping center, at Camp Walker in Daegu, where South Korean health officials have cautioned that 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 new, confirmed cases of the coronavirus. So far, over 1,100 people are confirmed to have had the virus, and at least eleven people have died.
The US's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday issued a travel advisory warning that people should avoid all non-essential travel to South Korea.