Citizens and foreigners wait for a specimen test at the COVID-19 Temporary Screening and Inspection Center at Guro Station in Seoul, South Korea on Tuesday afternoon, following the South Korean government's announcement of special quarantine measures in the metropolitan area. Photo: AFP

Eleven more US soldiers and two civilians in South Korea tested positive for COVID-19, the US Forces Korea (USFK) said Monday.

One family member of a service member stationed at the US Army Garrison Humphreys and two service members stationed at Camp Casey were confirmed with COVID-19 on June 22 and 24 after developing symptoms.

Nine service members and one family member of a soldier at the US Army Garrison Humphreys tested positive between June 22 and 24 during the contact-tracing process, the USFK said.

The confirmed patients have been transferred to designated isolation facilities at the US army bases here.

The total number of infections among the USFK-affiliated personnel rose to 932, according to Yonhap news agency.

"We are currently experiencing two small COVID-19 clusters on the US Army Garrison Humphreys and Camp Casey," said Gen. Robert B. Abrams, the USFK commander.

"Even though we are close to achieving an 80 percent vaccination of our community, now is not the time to become complacent," the commander noted.

In the latest tally, South Korea reported 501 more cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, raising the total number of infections to 155,572. The daily average caseload for the past week was 581.

The continued triple-digit growth was attributable to small cluster infections in the capital Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province as well as imported cases.