SEOUL– An Army boot camp reported three more cases of the coronavirus Thursday, bringing the total caseload in the latest cluster infection there to 18, the defense ministry said Thursday.
The three recruits at the Korea Army Training Center in the central city of Nonsan, 213 kilometers south of Seoul, have been in isolation after their camp reported another cluster infection weeks earlier.
Last month, the training center suffered a massive outbreak, which resulted in 123 confirmed cases.
Separately, two Navy members stationed in the southern city of Changwon tested positive for the new coronavirus, raising the total number of infections among the military population to 1,597.
Nationwide, South Korea reported 1,882 more COVID-19 cases on Thursday, and daily COVID-19 deaths hit the highest number of 20 since the fourth wave of the pandemic began, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
Amid the prolonged pandemic, the defense ministry is reviewing easing some of its anti-virus restrictions, as nearly 94 percent of service members have been vaccinated so far, officials said.
“The military has enforced tougher anti-virus schemes than the overall guidelines by health authorities, which has caused fatigue for our service members,” ministry spokesperson Boo Seung-chan told a regular briefing.
“We are looking into the option of easing some of the rules only for on-installation activities,” he said, adding that related decisions will be made in consultation with the KDCA.
Source: Yonhap News Agency