Japan's Foreign Minister regrets COVID outbreak at US military base in Okinawa: Reports

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi expressed his regrets to the commander of US Forces Japan, Ricky Rupp, that American military personnel did not take COVID-19 tests before arriving in Japan, leading to an outbreak at the military base, the Japanese news agency Kyodo news reported on Wednesday.

The minister noted that American troops were not tested for COVID-19 before their flight to Japan. They underwent preliminary tests a few days after their arrival at US base Camp Hansen in Okinawa.

Last week, a Japanese employee of the base was diagnosed with Omicron. Later it was discovered that a cluster of infections had been recorded among the soldiers who had recently arrived. The number of infections at the base reached 223 by Wednesday with four confirmed cases of Omicron.

The Japanese government and the Okinawa prefectural government on Monday urged the American command not to allow employees and military personnel to leave the base to quell the spread of the outbreak. Nevertheless, one American soldier was arrested on Tuesday for driving drunk while off base. (ANI/Sputnik)

( With inputs from ANI )