On Tuesday, a 23-year old US Service member tested positive for the deadly novel coronavirus (Covid-19). He was stationed at USA's Camp Carroll, situated it south-eastern South Korea.
On Wednesday, South Korea, that has emerged as the new center of the disease outbreak, after China, reported 169 new cases bringing the total number of infected cases to 1,146.
US Service member tests positive for coronavirus
As of Wednesday, South Korea has reported 1,146 coronavirus cases, including a 23-year old US Service member, stationed at Camp Carroll, the United States Forces Korea (USFK) said in a statement on Tuesday.
"The patient, a 23-year old male, is currently in self quarantine at his off-base residence", the statement read. He had visited another, Camp Walker on Feb. 24. Authorities are determining whether any other person was exposed to the disease, the statement further read.
South Korea's coronavirus cases surpass 1,000
On Wednesday, the east Asian nation reported 169 new cases of infection, taking the total tally to 1,146. South Korea is seeing rise in cases, as the number of cases reported by China are showing decline.
Cases in the country jumped from 51, a week ago to 1,146 on Wednesday. Majority of the cases in the country are reported in Daegu, a city situated in the country's south-east. Here, a religious congregation of an obscure religious sect called Sinhcheonji (translates to 'new heaven and land') has led to such rapid surge in cases. On Wednesday, 134 out of the 164 cases were reported in Daegu, itself.
The sect are reported to have branches in the Chinese city Wuhan, in Hubei province, where the disease is said to have originated and reported majority of cases. It's not known yet whether church members had traveled to Wuhan and contracted the disease there, which later spread in South Korea, but country's Centres for Disease Control and Prevention is looking into ties between the church branches in South Korea and China, Strait Times reported. So far, South Korea has reported 12 coronavirus fatalities.
