The spread of COVID-19 at U.S. military bases in Japan represents a serious hole in the nation’s border control system to combat the pandemic, and as such, the government needs to take immediate action.

Okinawa Prefecture announced four cases of the Omicron variant virus at the U.S. Marine Corps Camp Hansen among two Japanese employees, an American civilian and her Japanese husband.

The base is also dealing with a COVID-19 cluster. As of Dec. 20, a total of 186 cases, mostly among members of a rotational unit of newly arrived Marines, had been confirmed. Naturally, the prefectural government suspects a link between the Omicron cases and the cluster outbreak.

But the U.S. military’s response to Okinawa’s concern is baffling.

After the local government asked the U.S. military to conduct a genome analysis of those infected to determine if any of them had the Omicron variant, it was told the base did not have the equipment for such tests in Okinawa. The prefectural government offered to conduct the genome analysis itself, but U.S. officials refused to provide samples on grounds that personal information had to be protected.

The U.S. military said that if it deemed tests were necessary, they would be performed in the United States. With the rapid spread of the Omicron variant a topic of global concern, it is glaringly obvious that genetic sequencing to confirm the responsible variant is necessary.

U.S. military officials stressed that the cluster does not pose a serious threat to the Japanese population, saying that those recently deployed had no contact with local residents outside the base under a protocol for restricted activity.

But the four individuals confirmed to have the Omicron variant live off base. There have been numerous instances of U.S. service members breaching the rules, so it is hardly surprising that the fresh outbreak has made local residents uneasy.

The prefectural government offers free PCR tests for Japanese workers at U.S. bases and urges them to monitor their health condition closely. But these efforts cannot be really effective unless the U.S. military cooperates. We urge the U.S. military to assist the prefectural government in its efforts to contain the spread of the Omicron variant, through genome analysis and epidemiological studies to trace sources of infection.

The problem also poses a test of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s political leadership.

The administration has pledged to enhance its COVID-19 border control measures and late last month banned, in principle, the entry of all foreign nationals into Japan. But Japanese law does not apply to U.S. military service members under the bilateral Status of Forces Agreement. 

The newly arrived Marine unit at Camp Hansen bypassed Japanese quarantine and flew to Kadena Air Base in Okinawa directly from the United States early this month.

The individuals all tested negative before entering Japan and are fully vaccinated, according to the U.S. military. But the Japanese government needs to ascertain, among other things, whether they self-isolated for the required period.

With regard to other issues concerning U.S. bases in Japan, this is not a problem confined to Okinawa. Outbreaks of COVID-19 have also occurred, along with delays in reporting cases to local authorities, at the U.S. Navy base in Yokosuka in Kanagawa Prefecture and the U.S. Marine Corps air station in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture.

Last year, the National Governors’ Association called for strengthened steps to prevent infections at U.S. bases, saying it was the government’s responsibility to collect all relevant information and promptly disclose it to the public.

In response to the COVID-19 cluster at Camp Hansen, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno pledged “all-out efforts to ally anxiety within the local community.”

Seeing as Matsuno is also responsible for measures to ease the burden placed on Okinawans by the heavy U.S. military presence there, the government needs to match its words with action to protect the lives and health of the people.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 21