Seoul, Aug 18 (IANS): The combined forces of South Korea and the US on Tuesday began their joint annual military exercises amid rising concerns about the recent resurgence of the Covid-19 cases.

The computer-simulated Combined Command Post Training (CCPT) is scheduled to last until August 28, reports Xinhua news agency.

The first part, which focuses on defence, will continue until Saturday, while the second part for counter-attack, will run until August 28.

The summertime drill was originally slated to start on Sunday, but it was delayed after a South Korean army officer, who was to participate in the computer-simulated training, tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The number of new coronavirus cases here for the past five days totalled to 991 owing to cluster infections linked to church services in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province.

Out of the virus concerns, the exercises will be scaled back while the night-time training programs are to be skipped.

The springtime annual South Korea-US military drills were also called off due to the pandemic.

The South Korean military planned to ban all service members from leaving barracks for vacation and other purposes from Wednesday to prevent the spread of the virus inside the bases.

The ban will continue till the end of this month.