Almost 200 infections linked to US base in Japan

Japan’s government said that nearly 200 COVID-19 infections are linked to a U.S. military base on the southern island of Okinawa, Reuters reported. 

Japanese officials said on Monday that a worker at Camp Hansen tested positive for the omicron variant last Friday. 

During a news conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said there are now 180 COVID infections linked to the military base, adding it is unclear how many were the omicron variant, according to Reuters. 

“The Japanese government is urging again the U.S. side to ensure all workers at the U.S. military bases in Japan abide by the instructions and take strong measures if there are any violations,” Matsuno said.

Okinawa’s governor Denny Tamaki told the media on Friday that authorities asked U.S. military to conduct genome tests to determine which variant was spreading on the base. 

Japan reinstated strict border controls amid fears of the omicron variant, which is far more transmissible than previous strains of the virus. 

Japan has recorded more than 1.7 million COVID-19 cases and 18,391 COVID-related deaths since the start of the pandemic, while the rate of new virus infections has fallen in recent months. 

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he recently had a discussion with the head of Pfizer in an attempt to secure oral treatments for COVID-19, adding vaccine boosters for the elderly will be accelerated, Reuters noted.