SEOUL– South Korea’s military reported 72 additional COVID-19 cases Thursday, nearly doubling from the previous day, following a cluster infection at an Army unit.
The total caseload among the military personnel came to 2,438.
An Army base in Hwacheon, 118 kilometers northeast of Seoul, reported 51 additional cases, including 46 conscripts, raising the total infections traced to the unit since Tuesday to 62.
Two Air Force officers based in Seongnam, just south of Seoul, tested positive after a fellow was infected. Two Army conscripts stationed in Paju, some 30 kilometers northeast of Seoul, also contracted the virus from a fellow.
An Army trainee based in Jeonju, 243 kilometers south of Seoul, tested positive as well.
Six other military personnel contracted the virus during and after their vacations.
Of the cumulative cases in the military, 232 patients are still under treatment. The total number of breakthrough infections reached 718.
South Korea’s COVID-19 daily cases reached another high at 5,266, with the number of critically ill patients also hitting a new record.
Source: Yonhap News Agency