Military Infectious Disease Surveillance (16-22 October 2021)

South Korea [1-3]

On October 16, the South Korean military reported one new COVID-19 case, bringing its caseload to 1,961.
On October 19, 8 new cases were reported in Army soldiers in the South Korean military. Six were trainees who were quarantined following an outbreak in their unit in Yeoncheon; all of whom were not fully vaccinated. The remaining two case were in an Army officer based in Yangju and an enlisted soldier in Paju; both of whom were fully vaccinated. The military has reported 290 breakthrough cases as of October 19.
On October 22, 6 COVID-19 cases were reported in South Korea’s military – 4 Army officers and 2 draftees. Five of them were fully vaccinated. This brings the total caseload among military personnel to 1,992, 1,923 (96%) of whom have fully recovered.

United States [4,5]

Between October 13 and 20, the US military reported 3 deaths in service members, bringing the death toll for October to 11. While the death toll has more than doubled since late July, data from the latest week showed fewer deaths than in any week since August.
As of October 20, the US military recorded 248,865 COVID-19 cases, including 238,284 recoveries, 2,257 hospitalisations and 70 deaths. The distribution of cases are as follows – Army (86,700), Marine Corps (28,547), Navy (48,490), Air Force (43,251), National Guard (40,280), and other agencies (1597). A total of 1,431,012 service members have been fully vaccinated – Army (494,669), Marine Corps (163,879), Navy (365,607) and Air Force (406,857); 315,075 service members have received one dose of the vaccine – Army (194,369), Marine Corps (24,875), Navy (21,712) and Air Force (74,119).

United States Forces Korea (USFK) [6]

As of October 20, 32 people affiliated with the USFK newly tested positive for the coronavirus. The cases were detected from October 9 to 16, including 18 US troops stationed at Camp Humphreys and Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek. The remaining cases were in Department of Defense civilian employees (4), contract workers (5), and family members (5). This raises the case tally in the USFK-affiliated population to 1,557. More than 85% of the USFK affiliated community has been vaccinated.

Sources: