US Forces in Japan Should Not Be Lifting COVID-19 Measures

On Jan. 31, measures confining U.S. military personnel to their bases to minimize the spread of COVID-19 were lifted. The move was approved by the Japanese government.

It was the actions of U.S. forces that instigated the current outbreak; after the Japanese government’s delayed response, Okinawa was left dealing with record numbers of new cases.

It is unacceptable that U.S. forces have ignored Okinawa Prefecture’s request to further extend restrictions on leaving U.S. bases and have instead lifted them. At the very least, the regulations should remain in place until the prefecture’s “pre-emergency COVID-19 measures” end.

Last Dec. 17, the prefecture announced that a large cluster of cases had been identified at the Camp Hansen military base. An employee at the same location was the first in Okinawa to be diagnosed with the omicron variant.

At the time, it was discovered that U.S. forces had failed to conduct PCR tests on personnel entering Japan from the United States at all U.S. military bases in Japan, including those in Okinawa. It also came to light that U.S. military personnel were able to move freely around bases during their period of quarantine after entering the country. These were major flaws in the measures put in place by U.S. forces to stop the spread of COVID-19.

However, it was not until 20 days after the cluster at Camp Hansen had been identified that Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi requested stronger COVID-19 regulations, including restrictions on U.S. military personnel leaving their bases.

The failure to prevent the outbreak during the quarantine period is due to the U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement, which states that infectious disease control is the responsibility of U.S. forces.

According to Article 9, U.S. military personnel are exempt from Japanese laws and regulations when entering the country. So long as the agreement that grants privileged status to U.S. forces is not amended and its loopholes remain, it is likely there will be further outbreaks due to the actions of U.S. military personnel.

In response to questions in the Diet on Jan. 21, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida indicated that he does not intend to reform the U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement. Why doesn’t he have the will to do so when that very agreement is endangering the lives of citizens?

In response to the lifting of restrictions confining U.S. forces to their bases, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, “We accept that restrictions have come to an end as a result of a decline in the number of new cases among U.S. military personnel in Japan, as monitored by both sides.” However, there are questions to be answered about the testing methods employed by U.S. forces.

The Japanese government has been unable to confirm the type of antigen testing used by U.S. forces on military bases in Japan (as of Jan. 24). The Japanese government is requesting that quantitative antigen tests, which are used across Japan, also be used at bases, as they have the same level of accuracy as PCR tests. However, U.S. forces have yet to disclose any details about the kind of tests they use, as revealed by Kishida and Hayashi at the Lower House Budget Committee on Jan. 24. If this is the case, how can we trust any reports by U.S. forces?

To add to this situation, a derivative strain 18% more transmissible than omicron has been identified within Japan. It has been noted that this derivative may become the dominant strain, and as Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki said, “We are not in a position to be lifting restrictions.” The decision to drop COVID-19 regulations at U.S. bases is reckless.