This archive report was first published on 13 July 2020.
On the southern Japanese island of Okinawa, home to tens of thousands of US servicemen, a COVID-19 outbreak has led to the lock down of two major US military bases.
According to government spokesman Yoshihide Suga, 62 cases of COVID-19 have been detected in recent days among US forces stationed on the island, with most cases reported at US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma and Camp Hansen.
The outbreak has created tensions with local officials, including Okinawa governor Denny Tamaki, who expressed concerns about the spread of the virus.
As a precautionary measure, almost all off-base travel was halted from Sunday, with Marine Corps service members, dependents, and civilians restricted from leaving the base unless for essential purposes.
"Those orders are in place until further notice and limit base access and operations to essential personnel," the Marine Corps Installation Pacific stated in a separate post.
However, the post did not specify which bases were affected, and US military officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
According to an Okinawa official, the prefecture had been informed that the order applied to only Futenma and Camp Hansen, with the number of forces on the bases not disclosed for "security reasons".
US military presence on the island has long been a contentious issue, with many in the region arguing that they bear a disproportionate share of the burden of hosting American forces.
On Saturday, Tamaki expressed his shock at the number of cases on the bases, stating, "I can't help but feel serious doubts about US measures against infections," and calling for the halt of incoming troops and a boost in anti-infection measures.
It remains unclear where the bases' clusters of infections originated, but local media have raised concerns about incoming troops and their families who are being quarantined in local hotels off-base.
As a result, the Okinawa government has announced plans to ask the central government and US forces to share information about cases among the military more quickly and to observe their arrival quarantine on-base.
