Five USFK service members tested positive for COVID-19 after arriving in South Korea between Sept. 10 and 25.
Four service members arrived at Osan Air Base on U.S. government chartered flights from the U.S. on Sept. 10, 23, 24 and 25. The other service member arrived at Incheon International Airport on a commercial flight from the U.S. on Sept. 11.
USFK has not had an internal positive COVID-19 case since mid-April.
Three individuals tested positive on their first mandatory COVID-19 test prior to entering quarantine, and the other two individual tested positive on the second test required to exit mandatory quarantine. All have since been transferred to an isolation facility designated for confirmed COVID-19 cases at Camp Humphreys.
Thorough cleaning of all transportation assets and quarantine rooms has been completed.
USFK health professionals determined contact tracing was limited due to the service members, and all other passengers on the commercial and chartered flights being tested upon arrival, and immediately quarantined without interacting with anybody besides other individuals on their flight or those providing administrative and medical support after their arrival; none of the new arrivals have interacted with anyone residing within USFK installations or the local community.
As a testament to USFK’s aggressive preventative control measures to stop the virus’ spread, all USFK-affiliated individuals arriving in South Korea from overseas will be tested for COVID-19, quarantined for 14 days, and must pass a second test with negative results prior to being released from quarantine. If an individual tests positive on either test, they will enter into isolation.
Despite the recent confirmed cases, USFK remains at a high level of readiness with less than 1% of its active duty service members currently confirmed positive with COVID-19.
USFK continues to maintain a robust combined defense posture to protect the Republic of Korea against any threat or adversary while maintaining prudent preventive measures to protect the force.
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