According to the Japan Times on the 30th, on Monday, the number of COVID-19 cases involving U.S. military personnel in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, reached a record high, and the U.S. Marine Corps reported 72 people infected. At the same time, there has been a surge in COVID-19 cases across Japan.
The U.S. Pacific Marine Corps said in a statement that 52 new cases were confirmed at the U.S. military camp Hansen in Japan near Kimbu Bay and 20 confirmed cases at the Utenma Marine Corps Air Station in Ino Bay. The agency said that the 72 people were all from the United States. They were tested after arriving in Japan and are currently in quarantine.
The U.S. Marine Corps said in a statement that the two bases “have no risk to communities outside the base or to the larger military and civilian population”.
The U.S. Marine Corps said that there was no indication that the infected had transmitted the disease to more people around the base. The statement also declared: “Our existing COVID-19 response has effectively prevented the community transmission of the virus, and it seems to have played the same role in these cases, and we constantly evaluate procedures to ensure that they are effective and relevant in changing circumstances.”
The U.S. Marine Corps also said that they maintained “regular contact” with the central government of Japan and the Okinawa prefecture government.
According to the report, the U.S. military in Japan is still in what the military calls a “public health emergency”, and the commander has the right to force anyone entering the U.S. facility to comply with health protection measures.
This summer, as Japan fights the second wave of the coronavirus, the U.S. military in Okinawa has found a large number of cases of COVID-19. On Monday, 32 additional cases were reported in Okinawa, bringing the county’s total to 4,326.
