Twenty-one people associated with U.S. Forces Korea have tested positive for COVID-19 after arriving in South Korea between Oct. 23 and Nov. 8, USFK announced Tuesday.
Those testing positive include 16 service members who arrived on four chartered flights from the United States in November, as well as four dependents and one contractor who arrived on commercial flights in October and November.
Of the 21 testing positive, USFK said, 19 tested positive on their first mandatory COVID-19 test prior to entering quarantine and two tested positive on their second mandatory test.
All USFK-affiliated individuals arriving in South Korea are required to be tested for COVID-19, quarantined for 14 days and then test negative a second time before being released from quarantine.
"If an individual tests positive on either test, they will enter into isolation," said a press release from USFK.
Last week, USFK announced 10 new cases among USFK-affiliated individuals who arrived in the country between Oct. 23 and Nov. 3.
Last week, the U.S. Air Force also said that it will start doing random COVID-19 tests on flights provided by Patriot Express, a U.S. government contractor that provides worldwide service — mainly from the United States to Asia and Europe — to armed forces members and their families.
That announcement followed USFK's report that 18 people tested positive for the disease after flying to South Korea in late October.
To date, the Department of Defense has reported 91,892 COVID-19 cases among DoD personnel, including 62,247 among military service members, 14,817 among DoD civilians, 9,063 among dependents and 5,765 among contractors.
On Nov. 5, the DoD was reporting 86,735 total cases in the entire department — including 58,968 cases among military service members, 13,714 among civilian DoD employees, 8,597 among dependents and 5,456 among contractors.
The number of COVID-related deaths among DoD personnel reported last week — 111 — has not changed.
