Military alarmed at new COVID-19 outbreaks following Itaewon club case
Troops line up at a Transport Movement Office in Seoul Station, Friday, when the military resumed granting leave to enlisted servicemen following a decline in the number of coronavirus cases here. Yonhap
By Jung Da-min
The military has been alarmed by a new COVID-19 outbreak at clubs in Itaewon, a special tourist zone and entertainment district in the capital.
As dozens of service members were found to have visited the clubs against military guidelines that restricted them going out to prevent coronavirus infections, the cases are also bringing about criticism of lax military discipline.
On Friday, a staff sergeant working at the Cyber Operations Command in Seoul tested positive for COVID-19 after visiting a club in Itaewon the previous weekend. The club is one of five clubs and bars visited May 2 by a suspected “spreader” of COVID-19, a 29-year-old man from Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. The man tested positive for COVID-19 four days after the visits.
The confirmed infection of the staff sergeant came only two days after the military had announced “zero” cases of COVID-19, and declared a full recovery of the “last” patient out of a total 39 confirmed cases.
Following the staff sergeant, the military has reported seven more new cases. An enlistee and four non-commissioned members of the Cyber Operations Command have contracted the virus after being in contact with the staff sergeant. An Army captain stationed in Yongin also tested positive for the virus after visiting one of the clubs on the same day as the 29-year-old man. An Army first lieutenant working at the same military compound with the captain has also contracted the virus.
Military officials said the authorities will discuss punitive measures for the staff sergeant and the captain who violated the rule to stay at home after work, once the two recover from the virus.
The Ministry of National Defense has tested all members of the Cyber Operations Command for COVID-19, while receiving voluntary reports from service members who visited clubs in Itaewon over that weekend, saying those making voluntary reports will not be punished.
“As of Sunday, a total of 49 soldiers, of whom 32 were undergoing training, reported they went to the clubs or other entertainment or multi-use facilities in Itaewon,” deputy ministry spokesman Moon Hong-sik said at a regular briefing, Monday. “The 32 trainees visited the Itaewon area before their enlistment, while the other 17 service members visited during their military service period.”
The spokesman said each of those who made the voluntary reports are now under isolation. The military also warned of heavier punishments for those who do not report their visits to the area and are later found to have visited them.
He also said the military is currently not discussing if it will again ban enlisted service members from taking leave. The military had banned leave for all such troops Feb. 22 but resumed allowing it Friday, two days after the government announced that people should now practice “everyday life disease control” following a significant decline in the number of infections nationwide.