Newly enlisted soldiers will be required to take PCR tests within three days prior to entering military quarters amid soaring COVID-19 cases within the military.

Health authorities said the requirement for new enlistees will take effect from Friday.

The new plan will apply to young men who begin training as part of their mandatory military service from August 16.

The new enlistees will get PCR tests for free at COVID-19 testing sites or community health centers across the nation if they present their notice of enlistment.

The government had conducted PCR tests for enlistees beginning in May of 2020, but suspended them in May this year with a fall in infections.

Quarantine authorities, however, said that they decided to revive the requirement as one-point-91 percent of newly enlisted soldiers at the Army boot camp tested positive in the fourth week of July, a sharp increase from zero-point-46 percent in June.