The Omicron variant in Okinawa, cluster and related investigations: “Possibility of city-wide spread from US Military base.” (18de21)
A man in his fifties from Uruma in Okinawa who works at the US Military Camp Hansen has been confirmed as infected with the Omicron strain of Covid-19. At a press conference on 17 December, Governor Denny Tamaki and Director of Public Health Science Itokazu pointed out that, from their viewpoint, they suspected the path of transmission was from infections within the base. Director Itokazu noted, “There is a possibility of a widening from the base to a city-wide infection. At Camp Hansen, a large-scale cluster of 100 infected Marines who had been transferred to Okinawa from the US Mainland was discovered. The Prefecture requested a genome analysis, but the US Military has not responded. So, the Prefecture is unable to determine whether or not their infections are from the Omicron strain. The Prefecture claims it is in the midst of investigating if there is an epidemiological connection between the base-worker’s infection and those in the US Military related cluster. The explanation...