yet another Anglo pirate ship touched by Nurgle
A Covid Cluster at a U.S. Military Base in Okinawa Is Raising Concern
By Kanoko Matsuyama - Bloomberg - December 24, 2021
Omicron, Okinawa and old tensions
Japan has been on a roll—in a good way—since it’s recovered from a summer surge of Covid-19 driven by the delta variant. There are fewer than 100 cases on some days now, after topping 25,000 daily infections this past summer. The government raised its view of the economy for the first time since the summer of 2020, saying growth is picking up as the virus ebbs.
An aerial view of the Futenma U.S. Marine Base in Futenma City, Okinawa prefecture, Japan. Photographer: HIROAKI MAESHIRO
But omicron is knocking at the door, and a cluster of infections at a U.S. military base in Okinawa is raising concern. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said this week that more than 200 people are part of an outbreak at the U.S. Marine Corps’ Camp Hansen.
It’s unclear how many, if any, of the infections are caused by the omicron variant
because the military has not done genetic sequencing of its cases. Still, several non-military workers affiliated with
Camp Hansen and
Camp Schwab, another Marine base on Okinawa, have been found to carry the omicron strain, so it's fair to assume that the ultra-infectious new strain is spreading.
The potential emergence of omicron in Japan via an American military base is reigniting old tensions.
Japan is asking the U.S. to ban Camp Hansen’s military personnel from leaving the base and to strictly enforce the country’s Covid rules, especially after
a soldier from the camp was caught drunk driving by the local police on Monday. The incident caused “great anxiety” to the locals, who are working to prevent the spread of the infections, Matsuno said.
At the same time, U.S. soldiers and other foreigners in Japan may suffer from comparisons by some people who think they don't wear masks rigorously nor practice the social distancing behavior de rigueur among the Japanese.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo issued an unusual warning about foreigners being stopped and searched by Japanese police in what it said was suspected “racial profiling incidents,” though it’s unclear if the situations were virus-related.
Japan has reacted aggressively to try to prevent the spread of omicron from overseas
by banning the entry of any new foreign arrivals. It's perhaps inevitable that attention would also turn to foreigners already inside the country. It doesn't help that Covid clusters emerged last year following Fourth of July celebrations when U.S. personnel visited off-base beach parties and drinking spots. The incidents led local governments to make several requests, including halting transfers of U.S. personnel to the island.
Okinawa is home to about half of the 54,000 U.S. personnel in Japan, and the heavy American presence has been a source of contention since the end of World War II.
If the U.S. bases do indeed spark Japan's first wide outbreak of omicron, tensions in Okinawa could get a lot worse. — Kanoko Matsuyama
P.S. Merry Christmas 2021 to all SDFers who observe this celebration... have a safe and great holiday 
