Japan Defence Minister says outbreak at Okinawa US military base is 'serious' situation

Japanese defence minister Taro Kono has asserted that the COVID-19 outbreak in Okinawa US military bases was “extremely serious”. Since the start of the month, a total of 100 US Marine Corps personnel and their families, across six military facilities on the island of Okinawa, have tested positive for the virus. According to reports, a virtual lockdown was soon imposed on the facilities.

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'Serious situation' 

Meanwhile, three US personnel who tested positive for coronavirus after arriving in Tokyo recently, took a commercial flight en route to Marine Corps Air Station in Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture, raising fears of the spread of the virus. Calling it a rather “serious situation”, Kono, meanwhile asked the US authorities to strictly punish the violators and take serious action to prevent recurrence in future.

This comes as Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki is set to arrive in Tokyo on July 15, to seek help from the centre to press for more disclosure from the US military, and halt the arrivals of new US military personnel from outside Japan. Okinawan officials have confirmed that most of the cases since early July were at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, which is at the center of a relocation dispute. Others were at Camp Hansen, Camp Kinser and Camp McTureous, they added.

Meanwhile, the defence minister revealed that officials have discovered "a number of problems” with U.S. military measures to guard against the coronavirus among service members stationed in Japan after 95 Marines tested positive at several bases on the southern island of Okinawa. Kono said the problems were discovered after Japanese officials requested information from the U.S. military. He refused to give details, but said the problems exist at U.S. bases throughout Japan, not just on Okinawa.

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Image credits: AP