An American soldier stationed in South Korea has tested positive for coronavirus, becoming the first U.S. service member infected.

A U.S. military statement said Wednesday that the 23-year-old man is in self quarantine at his off-base residence.

The soldier was originally based in Camp Caroll in a town near the southeastern city of Daegu, where most of South Korea's virus cases are clustered.

South Korea said Wednesday it had almost 1,150 cases of the new coronavirus, the biggest outbreak outside mainland China.

About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea as deterrence against potential aggression from North Korea.

According to The Military Times, the infected soldier was at Camp Carroll between February 21 and 25, and visited neighboring Camp Walker this past Monday.

The same day, the United States Forces Korea (USFK) revealed that a widow of a retired soldier, aged 61, had contracted the virus and had visited Camp Walker's Post Exchange on February 12 and 15, when she may have been contagious.

The USFK is now conducting 'contract tracing' to see who else could have been exposed.

An American soldier stationed in South Korea has tested positive for coronavirus, becoming the first U.S. service member infected. Personnel are pictured at Camp Carroll

South Korea has reported 169 more cases of a new virus, mostly in of Daegu and nearby areas, bringing its total number of infections to 1,146. Medics are pictured transferring a patient between hospitals last week

South Korea has reported 169 more cases of a new virus, mostly in of Daegu and nearby areas, bringing its total number of infections to 1,146.

China on Wednesday reported another 406 cases of the new virus, along with 52 additional deaths, all of them in hard-hit Hubei province and all but 10 in the epicenter of the city of Wuhan.

China has recorded a total of 2,715 deaths from the coronavirus, and 78,064 cases in all.

In Daegu, the South Korean government has been mobilizing public health tools to contain the virus.

The country has also reported 11 fatalities from the virus, mostly at a hospital in the county of Cheongdo, near Daegu. Many of the cases have been tied to a Daegu church and authorities were tested its local members.

About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea as deterrence against potential aggression from North Korea. Camp Carroll is pictured

A patient suspected of carrying the new coronavirus arrives at Kyungpook National University Hospital in Daegu last week

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier called for Americans to be prepared for the illness to spread there, adding new urgency to response efforts that had long focused on China and its Asian neighbors.

'It´s not so much a question of if this will happen anymore, but rather more a question of exactly when this will happen - and how many people in this country will have severe illness,' Dr. Nancy Messonnier of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a call with reporters Tuesday.

At the same time, President Donald Trump insisted that the U.S. was in 'very good shape' in regards to the combating the virus - a day after the White House sent lawmakers an urgent $2.5 billion plan to address the deadly worldwide outbreak.

Trump was reportedly furious after underlings at the State Department last week decided to fly 14 Diamond Princess passengers who tested positive for coronavirus back to the U.S. without telling him, and against his wishes.

Worldwide, more than 80,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 2,700 people have died

Health officials at the CDC warned the State Department not to fly 14 American cruise passengers from the Diamond Princess who tested positive in Japan back to the US alongside healthy passengers, for fear the virus would spread.

The State Department batted aside the CDC's staunch warnings and flew all 328 evacuees back together on two planes.

18 of those passengers have now tested positive, as of last Friday.

Meanwhile, Chinese officials have reported a slowing in the number of new cases in recent days but it still has most of the world's 80,000 cases and 2,700 deaths.

New outbreaks were being reported, however, in places as far-flung as Italy and Iran, France and Algeria, and Spain´s Canary Islands. The tiny Persian Gulf nation of Bahrain counted 17 cases, including a school bus driver who had transported students as recently as Sunday.

The head of Iran's virus task force tested positive for the virus just a day after urging the public not to overreact about its spread. Iraj Harirchi posted a video online later, promising authorities would bring the virus under control within weeks.

But a ministry spokesman, Kianoush Jahanpour, said it could take at least until the Persian New Year's holiday on March 20, or as long as late April, to contain the disease. 'We don't expect a miracle in the short term,' he said.

The World Health Organization said the fatality rate for the new COVID-19 illness was between 2% and 4% in Wuhan, the city where the illness was first detected late last year, and 0.7% elsewhere in China.

The reason for the discrepancy was partly because the disease hit Wuhan early and fast, when 'people didn't know what we were dealing with, were learning how to treat this,' Dr. Bruce Aylward, a WHO envoy who led a team just back from China, told reporters Tuesday.

Workers disinfect subway trains against coronavirus in Tehran, Iran

Italian Army soldiers check transit to and from the cordoned areas near Turano Lodigiano, Northern Italy

At the beginning of the outbreak, 'people were finding severe disease, that´s why the alarm bell went off,' Aylward said. But now with more aggressive testing, mild cases are being diagnosed and isolated.

In Italy´s north, where more than 200 people were sickened, a dozen towns were sealed off and police wearing face masks patrolled. Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza huddled in Rome with counterparts from bordering countries - France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia - as well as with those from Germany and Croatia, two countries whose citizens are among frequent visitors to Italy.

Among the shared views emerging from the meeting, Speranza told reporters, was this one: 'Closing borders is inappropriate' as a response. Italian officials reported 322 cases of the virus overall, including 11 deaths.

Croatia and Austria reported their first cases of the virus. And an Italian doctor staying at a hotel in the Canary Islands tested positive for the virus, prompting the quarantine of hundreds of guests.

Croatia, Hungary and Ireland advised against traveling to Italy´s affected area, one of a number of government moves seeking to limit further exposure.

Spanish police officers patrol outside the H10 Costa Adeje Palace hotel in Tenerife, Canary Island, Spain

Chonnam National University staff wearing protective attire are on standby for special transportation for Chinese students studying at their university, at Incheon International Airport in Incheon, South Korea

Uncertainly remained over how best to stem the spread of the illness. Italy had taken Europe´s most stringent preventative measures and yet became home to the biggest outbreak outside Asia. Experts in Japan, with one of the world´s most sophisticated health systems, acknowledged the country´s handling of a virus-stricken cruise ship was flawed and could have allowed the problem to magnify.

Japanese officials said they would urge a change to the country's deeply ingrained work culture in a bid to stem the illness. The government urged employers to allow workers to telecommute and have more flexible hours, simple moves Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed hope could help control the spread.

Japan's case total of 860, third highest behind China and South Korea, includes 691 passengers and crew from the Diamond Princess. Four former passengers on the ship have died and more than a dozen people who were evacuated by their home countries later tested positive for the virus. Six government officials involved in the quarantine effort also became sick.

Overnight, 445 Filipinos who were mostly crewmembers on the ship flew home to begin a quarantine at an athletic facility in a northern province. Eighty Filipino crew members who tested positive for the virus stayed behind in hospitals in Japan.