Anger in Japan as US army bases report mounting Covid-19 outbreak
- There have been 136 US military personnel and dependents infected in Okinawa, with 36 new cases on Wednesday
- The prefecture’s governor has called for the US to suspend transfers and review the SOFA agreement that allows American troops to sidestep testing
Local residents said they were “sad and angry” that there were so many cases of the virus in a prefecture that had reported just a single new case in the past month.
Thirty-six new cases were reported at the Marine Corps’ Camp Hansen on Wednesday, bringing the total number of cases on the base to 58. There are 71 cases linked to Marine Corps Air Station Futenma and another five at Kadena Air Base, while single cases have been reported at Camp McTureous and Camp Kinser.
While Futenma and Hansen are under lockdown orders, the concern is that personnel from the bases celebrated US Independence Day at bars and restaurants on the weekend of July 4, bringing them into contact with local residents. Health authorities are attempting to trace people who may have interacted with US personnel in recent days, and are calling on residents to come forward for testing.
Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki has expressed his disappointment at the failure of US military efforts to contain the outbreak. He flew to Tokyo on Wednesday and had meetings at the US embassy and with representatives of the Japanese government to discuss his concerns, including the US army citing confidentiality and a risk of terrorist attacks to avoid information.
“It is extremely regrettable that a large number of US military personnel were infected in a short period of time,” he said, adding that local people have been “shocked” after their efforts to prevent a major outbreak in Okinawa. To date, there have been 148 civilian cases in the prefecture of almost 1.5 million people.