Outbreaks at U.S. Military Bases Add to Japan’s Virus Worries

(Bloomberg) -- Coronavirus clusters at military bases in Okinawa are causing fresh strains between Japan and the U.S., with Tokyo questioning if American service personnel are dodging local rules and causing infections to spread.

The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs was expected to address the matter at a news conference Thursday, a day after Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki asked for measures to control outbreaks in a letter to Defense Minister Taro Kono. Those requests included halting transfers of U.S. personnel to the southern island prefecture.

While other overseas U.S. military facilities have had flare-ups, Okinawa is especially sensitive because the heavy American military presence has been a source of contention since the end of World War Two. Okinawa is home to about half of the 54,000 U.S. military personnel in Japan and the prefecture says the 31 American military facilities take up about 15% of its main island.

This month, Okinawa has reported 136 cases linked to U.S. military personnel -- largely from the U.S. Marines Corps’ Camp Hansen and Air Station Futenma -- almost matching the 148 infections previously recorded on the islands. The infections are thought to have emerged from Fourth of July celebrations where military-affiliated personnel visited off-base beach parties and drinking spots, according to Tamaki.

“I have no choice but to have strong doubts about the U.S. military’s measures to prevent infection,” Tamaki said in a statement this week. A taxi driver in his 80s carrying passengers to Camp Hansen was thought to be the first Okinawa civilian infected in connection with the recent cases, he said.

Japan’s travel ban on U.S. visitors doesn’t extend to military personnel, who in most cases also aren’t subject to diagnostic testing that Japan requires for many foreign arrivals. All personnel who rotate to Marine Forces Japan are placed on a 14-day quarantine and monitored for symptoms, according to First Lieutenant Ryan Bruce, a Marines spokesman in Okinawa.

Concern about the virus is rising again across Japan, with Tokyo seeing a daily record of more than 280 cases on Thursday, compared with 27 on June 16. Okinawa was among the places banking on efforts to restart domestic travel and bring back people to its seaside hotels and restaurants.

Kono, the defense minister, separately expressed concerns about allegations that three family members of military personnel in the past week had left quarantine before their test results came back. Foreign Minister Toshimitu Motegi said Japan had “already requested the U.S. to thoroughly augment strict measures to prevent the spread of infections and closely conduct information-sharing.”

The U.S. has also limited off-base activity and pledged to cooperate with Okinawa’s government. Tamaki has requested that American service personnel coming to Japan undergo the same testing and quarantine procedures as civilians.

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