82% OF CHEONGHAE UNIT INFECTED

[Anchor Lead]

247 service members or 82% of the entire crew of the Cheonghae naval Unit dispatched to the African seas have tested positive for COVID-19. Two transport planes that have been dispatched to bring home the infected servicemen have arrived at Africa. They’re due to arrive in Korea tomorrow evening.

[Pkg]

​Two transport planes prepare for takeoff. Operation Oasis is carried out to bring back some 300 servicemen from the Cheonghae Unit. A special team of some 200 Navy personnel and medical professionals who will operate the Munmu the Great warship are on board. The crew of the Cheonghae Unit will fly on the two transport planes. Internally, the planes are compartmentalized to separate the confirmed, symptomatic and asymptomatic sailors. There are also oxygen tanks available for critically ill servicemen. The crew transfer of the naval ship will take place without any person-to-person contact. The Cheonghae Unit crew will disinfect the ship first before the special team members board it for a second disinfection. Then they will go through the checklist to bring the warship back to Korea.

[Soundbite] Yang Min-su(ROKN Rear Admiral) : "We will inspect the warship’s equipment and disinfect the ship before bringing it safely back to Korea."

Out of 301 Cheonghae Unit servicemen, 247 were found to have been infected with COVID-19. That's around 82% of the entire crew. Experts point out the crew missed the critical window of isolation when they used unreliable antibody test kits after one sailor began showing symptoms.

[Soundbite] Dr. Lee Jae-gap(Hallym Univ. Medical Center) : "When the crews had symptoms, they should have discussed earlier about adequate procedures. I would say the whole system didn't work at all."

The transport planes will arrive in the late afternoon of July 20th.