China News Service, July 17th. According to South Korea’s “Joongang Ilbo” report on the 16th, South Korea’s Ching Hai troops stationed in the Gulf of Aden in Africa in early 2021 broke out a collective infection of new crown pneumonia, causing the Ching Hai troops to be unable to complete the task of protecting overseas Chinese. It may even need to return home urgently.
The South Korean military started vaccination work within its troops in April 2021, but did not send vaccines to the Ching Hai troops during the period. The South Korean military was accused of ignoring troops stationed overseas, triggering a huge wave of criticism.
Data map: South Korea's Incheon International Airport staff strictly implement epidemic prevention measures.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Liu Xu
The South Korean military has adopted homogenous group isolation measures against collective infections within the military. However, in 2020, the South Korean military has already concluded that this is ineffective for ships, and the infection is expected to spread further.
On July 15, the South Korean Joint Staff Headquarters reported that there are currently more than 300 crew members on the 4,400-ton Wenwu Dawang destroyer of the Qinghai Force 34th phase. Among them, 6 of them tested positive for the new crown pneumonia virus, and more than 80 were due to the presence of the virus. Suspected symptoms were isolated.
The troops stationed overseas are under the direct command of the Joint Staff Headquarters.
The Ching Hai troops set sail in February this year, before South Korea started vaccination against the troops, so none of the troops were vaccinated.
Data map: At Incheon Airport in South Korea, airline staff check passenger epidemic prevention certificates.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Zeng Nai
Misjudgment of "How can you be infected while floating on the sea"
Moreover, the Ministry of National Defense, which is responsible for the vaccinations against the new crown pneumonia within the troops, has not yet formulated a relevant vaccination plan after the Ching Hai troops arrived from South Korea in their deployment areas.
The analysis believes that the Ministry of National Defense has insufficient awareness of the risk of infection, thinking that "how can you get a virus while floating on the sea" and neglecting precautions, this is the ultimate cause of this incident.
An official from the military said, "The delivery of vaccines to the Ching Hai troops for vaccination requires the cooperation of the station, and the procedures are very cumbersome. Therefore, we originally planned to arrange vaccination after they return to South Korea."
"It is judged that they are floating on the sea most of the time, rarely in contact with locals, and the possibility of infection is unlikely."
However, the report pointed out that the collective infection was probably due to the virus being infected when the troops were in contact with the locals.
The Ching Hai troops will fight for six months, and they must prevent the epidemic without being vaccinated before returning to South Korea at the end of August.
The report pointed out that even though the navy stationed at sea is fighting at sea, it needs to call at local ports in the Middle East and Africa to obtain supplies.
The army cadres who had symptoms of pneumonia this time went to the local port to carry supplies at the end of June.
A military official said, “In order to prevent local infection of the new crown pneumonia virus, officers and soldiers wear protective clothing to carry supplies.” However, the cadres in charge of supply need to inspect the supplies and discuss new supply cooperation matters with the locals. It is inevitable that this will happen. Have contact".
Before setting sail, the officers and soldiers of the Wenwu King were strictly quarantined for two weeks, cut off contact with the outside world, and adopted high-intensity preventive measures.
They had undergone two PCR tests from January to February 2021 before they set sail, and the results were all negative.
No one was infected with the virus when it took over with the 33rd Ching Hai Troop (Cui Ying) in March.
Data map: South Korea's Gyeonggi Province Yeoncheon County, South Korea-U.S. Joint Headquarters Crossing the River.
"Let officers and soldiers wear anti-epidemic suits for special operations?"
However, a military related person who participated in the Qinghai Forces accused the military authorities of negligence, saying, "The troops need to carry out work to rescue the expatriates in the local area. How can it be possible to wear protective clothing for special operations?" and "rescue the expatriates. After arriving on the ship, it was impossible to isolate him from the officers and soldiers of the army. It is simply incomprehensible to let the Qinghai army have no vaccine protection for half a year."
Moreover, after the military had previously learned that five people in the external team were diagnosed with the new crown pneumonia virus, it did not fully increase its vigilance and failed to formulate a proper response plan.
In January 2021, South Korean naval officers and soldiers stationed in the Bahrain Joint Naval Command had confirmed cases; in February and April, South Korea's Hanguang troops stationed in South Sudan, Africa, also had one confirmed case.
According to the Ministry of National Defense, of the more than 1,300 South Korean officers and soldiers stationed overseas, more than 960 (72.6%) have been vaccinated, including the Han Kwang Force in South Sudan, the Dongming Force in Lebanon, and the Akh Force in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Wait.
However, it has been confirmed that most of these external teams were vaccinated at home before leaving the country, or vaccinated with the help of the government of the host country or the United Nations after leaving the country.
South Korea has never sent vaccines to external teams.
Among the Dongming troops participating in UN peacekeeping operations, only some of the officers and soldiers who have served for an extended period of time were vaccinated locally with the help of the United Nations.
Mass infections are prone to occur on warships because the crew members live together in isolated spaces 24 hours a day, and it is difficult to avoid contact.
Except for the bridge, the entire warship is equivalent to a closed space without windows. Natural ventilation cannot be achieved. The artificial ventilation facilities are connected together. In addition, the temperature in the African waters where the Qinghai troops conduct combat activities is extremely high and must be kept open. Air conditioning and refrigeration.
The military issues "impossible" measures to isolate homogeneous groups
Mass infections on warships have long been common.
In 2020, more than 1,000 crew members on the USS Theodore Roosevelt, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier of the United States Navy, were infected with the new crown pneumonia virus, causing the aircraft carrier to cease combat missions and return to Guam in an emergency.
In April 2021, the South Korean naval landing ship "Gufalcon Peak" sent to the West China Sea also experienced a collective infection of 38 people.
It was reported on July 14 that more than 100 people on the British Navy’s "Queen Elizabeth" warship, which was scheduled to enter South Korean ports at the end of August after sailing on June 30, were collectively infected with the new crown pneumonia virus.
The South Korean Joint Staff Headquarters stated that for the mass infection incident on the Wenwu Dawang, 80 people with suspected symptoms have been isolated in a homogeneous group to prevent the spread of infection and formulate prevention and control measures.
However, a relevant person in the Navy revealed that “after the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic last year, the Navy has conducted internal discussions and believes that it is impossible to isolate homogeneous groups on ships.” “Therefore, the Navy will arrange people with suspected symptoms when docking. Go to the ground facility for observation".
In other words, the epidemic prevention measures of "homogeneous group isolation" on ships are not reliable.
The military only started to formulate countermeasures after the incident.
A related person from the Joint Staff Headquarters said, "We are considering sending a military transport plane to the local area to transport confirmed and suspected symptomatic people back to China."
Qing Wa Dae spokesperson Park Jiong Mi introduced that President Moon Jae-in instructed at the internal staff meeting that day to "urgently dispatch air refueling transport planes, and dispatch epidemic prevention and vaccine personnel, and equipment and materials for epidemic prevention and treatment to the local area as quickly as possible."
President Wen also instructed that if the local medical conditions are not good, the patients should be sent back to China for treatment as soon as possible. At the same time, other external teams should be checked to strengthen management and support to prevent similar situations from happening again.