US military reports S. Korea virus case

AN AMERICAN soldier stationed in South Korea has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, commanders said Wednesday, as the country’s case total jumped again.

The soldier, a 23-yearold man, is the first infection among the 28,500 troops Washington stations in the South to defend it against the nucleararmed North.

Based at Camp Carroll 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of Daegu,

the serviceman has been put in self-quarantine at his home, US Forces Korea said, adding it was conducting “contact tracing” to determine whether other soldiers had been exposed.

Meanwhile, South Korean authorities reported 169 new infections, taking the overall national tally to 1,146, by far the largest outside China.

An 11th person has died of the disease, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said – a Mongolian man in his 30s who became the first foreign national to fall victim to the outbreak.