#14,942
Earlier today Hong Kong - which has identified more than 80 COVID-19 cases of their own - declared a red outbound travel warning to South Korea. Two days ago, the CDC's Travel division raised their travel advisory to Alert - Level 2, Practice Enhanced Precautions.
And just this morning we saw a report from Yonhap News that South Korea's military has detected 11 service personnel who have been infected with COVID-19.While no U.S. military personnel have been found infected yet, today USFK (United States Forces Korea) announced the first dependent infected with the virus.
USFK Individual Confirmed with COVID-19
By USFK Public Affairs | Feb. 24, 2020
CAMP HUMPHREYS, PYEONGTAEK, Republic of Korea — —
South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention informed United States Forces Korea today that a USFK dependent living in Daegu tested positive for COVID-19, making this the first time a USFK-related individual has tested positive for the virus.
USFK has raised the risk level to “high” for USFK peninsula-wide as a prudent measure to protect the force.
The patient, a 61-year old female, visited Camp Walker’s Post Exchange on Feb. 12 and 15, and KCDC and USFK health professionals are actively conducting contact tracing to determine whether any others may have been exposed.
USFK encourages all personnel to continue to practice strict proper hygiene procedures as the best ways to prevent the spread of viruses and protect the USFK population: wash hands with soap and water or use hand sanitizer, do not touch your face or eyes with unclean hands, avoid handshaking and unnecessary contact with others, non-mission essential large gatherings, clean all common-use areas and items, use caution when traveling off-installation, and most importantly if feeling sick or ill, avoid going to work or school and seek medical treatment for proper diagnosis.The USFK Coronavirus Update page has the following information on the heightened alert.
USFK COVID-19 Information
By USFK Public Affairs | Feb. 24, 2020
(EXCERPT)
Out of a strong abundance of caution and utilizing the USFK Commander's authorities to protect the force, expect the following health protection measures associated with a HIGH risk level:
- limit non-mission essential in-person meetings, gatherings, and temporary duty travel and assignments- expect longer wait times, possible temperature checks and screening questionnaires at gates to access installations
- limit off-installation travel or use extreme caution when travelling off-installation
In addition to the above, please continue to practice strict proper hygiene procedures:
- wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or use alcohol based hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available- do not touch your face or eyes with unclean hands
- avoid handshaking and close or unnecessary contact with others
- avoid non-mission essential large gatherings
- clean all common-use areas and items
- avoid travel or contact with others while sick
- most importantly -- if feeling sick or ill, avoid going to work, school or exposure to large gatherings and seek medical treatment
(Continue . . . )
Although we've seen limited evacuations of American's from Wuhan, and from the Diamond Princess in Japan, the logistics of a speedy evacuation of American civilian personnel and/or dependents from South Korea would be a formidable undertaking even under the best conditions.
The U.S. military has drilled for this possibility during a `wartime' scenario (dubbed Noncombatant Evacuation Operation exercise Focused Passage) , but as far as I know, has never considered the challenges of doing so during a pandemic.And while the immediate concern today is South Korea, it could just as easily be Germany, the UK, or Italy tomorrow. With COVID-19, we are literally entering into uncharted territory. And each day is likely to bring new, and complex problems.
Few will have easy, or satisfactory, solutions.
