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A sign outside a shop in Kamakura, Japan, reminds patrons to wear a mask, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2020.

A sign outside a shop in Kamakura, Japan, reminds patrons to wear a mask, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2020. (Aaron Kidd/Stars and Stripes)

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TOKYO — The U.S. military in Asia reported 11 new coronavirus cases on Friday — one in Japan and 10 in South Korea.

U.S. Forces Korea said nine service members tested positive at Osan Air Base after arriving on government-chartered Patriot Express flights on Oct. 29 and on Monday and Tuesday, according to a USFK news release. One service member tested positive after arriving on a commercial flight Tuesday at Incheon International Airport.

Eight of the individuals tested positive on the mandatory first test prior to entering the required 14-day quarantine; two others tested positive while in quarantine, according to USFK.

All 10 are in isolation at Camp Humphreys, the release said. On Thursday, USFK also reported 10 new coronavirus patients that arrived and were tested during the same time frame.

The U.S. military in South Korea has reported 298 total coronavirus cases during the pandemic, of which 224 were active duty service members.

South Korea on Friday reported 125 new cases of the coronavirus for a pandemic total of 27,050 and 475 deaths, according to the World Health Organization.

In Japan, one person at Kadena Air Base tested positive for the virus after returning to Okinawa from elsewhere in the country, according to a base Facebook post Thursday evening.

Public health authorities identified and quarantined five of the individual’s close contacts, according to Kadena’s 18th Wing.

The U.S. military in Japan does not always specify whether its coronavirus patients are service members, Defense Department civilian employees or family members.

Okinawa prefecture, where most U.S. forces are stationed, reported 21 new coronavirus cases in the local population on Friday, a prefectural public health official told Stars and Stripes by phone. Government spokespeople in Japan frequently speak on condition of anonymity as a condition of their employment.

Okinawa has reported a pandemic total of 3,430 cases and 63 deaths.

Japan on Friday reported 938 new coronavirus cases, including 242 in Tokyo, the capital city, according to WHO and public broadcaster NHK. The pandemic total in Japan is 103,838 cases and 1,794 deaths, according to WHO on Friday.

news@stripes.com

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