American soldiers who visited China in the last two weeks were ordered to quarantine themselves for 14 days due to the coronavirus outbreak, according to U.S. military officials in South Korea, the Washington Examiner reported on Sunday.
Officials explained that this "applies to any service members returning to South Korea from mainland China since January 19, regardless of whether they show any symptoms," adding that there have not been any known cases of U.S. soldiers being infected.
U.S. Forces Korea also highly encouraged the same 14-day self-quarantine for family members, Department of Defense civilians, contractors, South Korean employees, and U.N. military personnel.
The command issued a statement that it “continues to stress the overall risk to USFK personnel remains low, but that the quarantine measures implemented are out of an abundance of caution to mitigate risk to the USFK population.”
USFK, which commands some 28,000 American troops stationed in South Korea, urged people to follow preventive measures from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, which include thoroughly washing hands and staying away from anyone who displays any signs of symptoms, Stars and Stripes reported.
South Korea announced three new confirmed cases on Sunday, bringing the total number in that country to 15.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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