U.S. Locks Down Bases in Okinawa After Coronavirus Outbreak
A total of 61 cases are reported among U.S. personnel on Japanese island
TOKYO—The U.S. military said Sunday it has ordered Marine personnel on the Japanese island of Okinawa to stay on base after a coronavirus outbreak involving dozens of cases drew criticism from the island’s governor.
The Marine Corps told Okinawa officials that a total of 61 new coronavirus infections were confirmed among U.S. service members and related personnel on Okinawa between July 7 and July 11, said Marine spokesman Maj. Ken Kunze.
The southern island plays host to more than half of the roughly 50,000 U.S. military personnel in Japan, and tensions are frequent between local people and the U.S. forces over noise, crime, military accidents and other issues.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-locks-down-bases-in-okinawa-after-coronavirus-outbreak-11594538627
Military’s COVID-19 cases growing at twice the nationwide rate
More than 4,100 service members have tested positive for coronavirus since the July 1, according to the Defense Department’s latest statistics, a rise of about 33 percent in the last 10 days. That is more than twice the rate of growth nationwide during the same period, 16 percent, as the U.S. more than once broke its daily records for new cases.
There were three new deaths, all of contractors or civilians, during this period as well.
Defense officials have attributed the recent rise in military cases both to increased testing and to the lifting of shelter-in-place orders in some force concentration areas, while expressing faith that local commanders are enforcing protective measures like social distancing and face covering for their troops.
“While we are seeing some upticks in the same places there are upticks in the civilian sector, again, that is not necessarily overly surprising, in that we have been doing more testing,” assistant defense secretary for health affairs Tom McCaffery told reporters July 1. “And we have been doing testing of those who are asymptomatic.”
The infection rate among service members is now 0.8 percent, compared to 0.9 nationwide. That is the closest the military’s infection rate has come to the general public’s in the U.S., and double what it was in mid-June.
These most recent calculations by Military Times reflect the period between July 1 and July 10, rather than the previous weekly calculations published every Friday. DoD did not post its updated numbers on July 3, despite its current Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule.
Officials have pointed to states with spiking infection rates as possible contributors to new cases.
“In general we are doing more testing, which can lead to more positive cases, which prompts more testing,” Air Force spokesman Lt. Col. Malinda Singleton told Military Times in late June. “Many of our installations are in current hotspots (Texas, Arizona, Florida), which is also leading to an increase in positive cases.”