The United States has recorded more than 4.2 million cases, and the infection rate has increased by more than 60,000 per day in recent weeks.
Statistics like that have made Okinawa politicians suspicious of the virus that spreads to the local population as contract workers move in and out of US bases on a daily basis.
“The Japanese workers working inside (the US bases) are concerned. I think they must be very afraid. It is something that both the US governments and the Japanese must adequately address,” said Masaharu Noguni, Mayor of Chatan, Okinawa. .
The military relationship between Japanese and American civilians on the island has been strained for years.
Okinawa represents less than 1% of Japanese territory, but is home to approximately 70% of US bases and half of the 47,000 US troops in Japan, according to figures from the Okinawa Prefectural Government.
It’s a footprint that frustrates many of Okinawa’s 1.44 million residents, many of whom say Tokyo has ignored their concerns about it since the United States returned the island to Japan in 1972 after occupying it since the end of the Second World War.
Taking action
Since the outbreak at Marine Corps bases earlier this month, the United States Forces of Japan (USFJ) have taken steps to stop the spread of the virus, announcing on Friday that all US personnel entering Japan should pass a Covid-19 test before they can be released. of a mandatory 14-day quarantine.
US personnel are also required to undergo a review by Japanese authorities when they enter the country through a commercial airport, USFJ said in a statement.
“This policy update adds another layer of protection for US forces and our Japanese neighbors, and we will continue to be as transparent as possible as we face this challenge together,” Colonel Robert Firman, USFJ director of public affairs, said in a statement. .
Marine Corps Major Ken Kunze said no new cases had been identified as of 8am Monday in the past 24 hours.
A town off limits
The city of Chatan was a popular gathering place for off-duty US troops and their families before the pandemic. It is now banned for almost all US personnel from Marine Corps bases.
But it still houses a hotel, the Doubletree Hilton, which US forces have rented to house US Marines and others who will leave the island on summer troop rotations.
“What has concerned us here in Chatan is that people … who have not even been evaluated were staying in a commercial hotel,” said Mayor Noguni.
Those people should be confined to US bases prior to their departure, Noguni said.
Outside of US forces, Okinawa saw 50 new coronavirus cases in July, representing more than a quarter of its total cases. And it comes after Okinawa saw no new infections in May or June.
Meanwhile, Japan is seeing its worst numbers since the coronavirus pandemic began. The county health ministry reported 839 new cases Sunday, including 239 new cases in the capital of Tokyo on Sunday, the sixth consecutive day that it has had more than 200 new cases.
Noguni said Saturday that the increase in cases for the US military and Japan as a whole could be too much for Okinawa.
“We are very concerned that, after everything we did to contain the virus, it can now spread from outside the prefecture or from the United States military,” he said.
“I think we will not be able to stop the spread of Covid-19 unless we stop it at our borders.”
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