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Japan: Anger at coronavirus outbreaks at US Maritime bases in Okinawa

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  • Japanese authorities say they are “shocked” after a sizeable coronavirus outbreak at two US Marine bases in the state.
  • 61 Marines have been infected with the virus in the latest days, spread across two bases in Okinawa prefecture, home to about 26,000 US assistance personnel.
  • “We now have solid doubts that the US military has taken satisfactory disease avoidance measures,” Okinawa governor Denny Tamaki reported at a press convention.
  • Okinawa has only had all over 150 verified coronavirus situations in full as of July 10, though it is unclear whether or not the 61 US Marines contaminated are involved in the complete.
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Japanese authorities are demanding answers from the US following a huge scale coronavirus outbreak amongst Marines stationed in the country’s southern prefecture of Okinawa.

61 Marines have been infected with the virus in new days, according to the Guardian newspaper, distribute throughout two bases in the archipelago — which has very long been a US armed service stronghold in the eastern Pacific.

38 of the reported conditions are at the Futenma Maritime air station. Another 23 happened at Camp Hansen, a base that is property to about 6,000 US Marines.

“It is exceptionally regrettable that the bacterial infections are swiftly spreading amid US staff when we Okinawans are performing our utmost to consist of the infections,” Okinawa’s governor, Denny Tamaki, claimed at a press meeting, according to the Guardian.

“Okinawans are shocked by what we had been explained to,” he extra. “We now have strong doubts that the US armed forces has taken enough disorder avoidance steps.”

Tamaki is 50 percent American, remaining born to a father in the US armed forces and a Japanese mother. He is the to start with American-Asian to acquire a seat in the Japanese Household of Representatives.


Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki

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It was beforehand unidentified particularly how numerous US services personnel experienced contracted COVID-19, but the figures had been released publicly after sizeable stress on US authorities by Tamaki, the Involved Push said.

Beforehand, the US Maritime Corps had vaguely referred to two “localized clusters” of bacterial infections, devoid of giving a exact amount of situations.

“Following months with no confirmed COVID-19 infections on Okinawa, this week the Marine Corps professional two localized clusters of individuals who tested beneficial for the virus,” a article on the formal Marine Corps Installations Pacific Fb page explained.

All individuals infected are in isolation, the website page extra.

Okinawa prefecture has described 145 situations of the virus with 7 fatalities, according to Japanese news outlet Nippon.


The cluster of islands is property to 26,000 US provider staff.

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Information of the outbreak between Marines will come as again home the US battles record or close to-file figures of new instances of the virus nearly each working day and continues to be the pandemic’s world centre.

The US claimed far more than 66,000 new instances of the virus on Saturday, the biggest solitary-working day improve at any time, according to the Facilities for Disease Manage and Avoidance.

Okinawa’s link to the US armed service stems from the 1945 Allied invasion of the place in the closing months of the Next Earth War. Following an invasion was introduced in April 1945, more than 100,000 men and women were killed throughout virtually two months of fighting on Okinawa Island, the prefecture’s biggest island.

In June, Japan and the US commemorated the 75th anniversary of the Struggle of Okinawa, which was one of the remaining battles of the war, and finished 6 months just before the US dropped nuclear bombs on the Japanese towns of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

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