U.S. Forces extends health emergency to all of Japan

Gotta hurt when the US -- leader in the world in infection and death, not to mention stupidity in dealing with the virus -- calls you out on inaction.

hah, tough talk but it doesn't apply the overly hired number of local Japanese workers under the Military Labor Contract that has been and is still abused for a long time. Does it really take 15 people to paint 1 US soldiers room? I see these guys sleeping and typically always sitting in the break rooms playing cards, reading magazines or just watching TV for hrs vs a simple breaktime. But when it comes to leave they rush no run towards their cars 5 to 10 minutes before the day ends. Yet the US military the client under the MLC program says nothing. They also never stop including off base contractor workers during the US and Japan "colors" at the end of the day. The just walk, keep talking while the rest of their client is at full attention. So this action is mute when it comes to "all base personnel".

The crazy part about it is the daily Military flights from Seattle and LAX to Kadena Air Base & Yokota Circumventing Japanese immigration and the quarantine policies as they are exempt under SOFA. Meanwhile infections keep rising on the base, but nobody can find out the real numbers as they are now not releasing them. The young military populace is asymptomatic and spreading it outside their gates to the local community. They act like Japan is the problem while the USA is on fire right now. This is absolute madness!

@rgc1: I worked for the US State Department before. I lived at Zama. I never ever saw 15 people painting one room, nor saw people sitting in break rooms playing cards.

Yes, I did see inefficiency at times, but here is the gig. The US government pays the salaries of its personnel only. All Japanese nationals, construction workers, buildings, water, gas, electric, trash., etc., etc. is paid for by the Japanese government. If they cannot control their own ineptitudes, then they pay more through contact agreements.

One of the things that bugs me about President Trump is that he does not understand how cheap it is to keep American Military overseas rather than stateside.

The bases now are basically under lockdown. You will not be seeing Americans going on and off the bases unless they live off base, have to work at another location, or former retired like my brother a Col.

After the incident with the ship and the Captain being fired, you will see even stricter control and that is good. Not good for business outside the gates, but most are closed in the Requested closure compliances by Abe.

I never ever saw Japanese Nationals disrespect the Flag and run to their cars either by the way. If anybody did that, they were spoken too. Even kids respected the flag.

I hope this was informative and not offensive. Japan and American military are a good team.

It is home to squadrons of advanced U.S. fighters and has the only forward deployed U.S. Navy aircraft carrier strike group at the Yokosuka naval base, which serves as the headquarters of the Seventh Fleet.

And still not one word about the condition of the sailors or the situation on the USS Ronald Regean.

Sorry to see that a sailor from the USS Theodore Roosevelt died of Covid in Guam. Was confined to a hotel room and a medic checked on him (just guessing it is a him) twice a day. Came in and found him gone.

Be nice to have the numbers of military who have actually contacted the virus be openly shared with the general public here.

There were three cases here in Okinawa, openly published, then from the next day, USFJ stopped reporting publicly and only reports their numbers to the government.

We live on a damn island here, there have been now a total of 87 confirmed cases here, not including these 3 or ones who tested positive elsewhere but decided to come down here anyway (arseholes)

We do have a right to know the policies regarding quarantine the bases are using and numbers, base by base may not be necessary, but at least HOW many that are here!

https://okinawa.stopcovid19.jp/en/?fbclid=IwAR2wQ4gVED3ZoTmUMkhv0_h7-odbCo-9Jf4aRs6UURlSrYXPgmdM387trPY

gaijinkurd: "Circumventing Japanese immigration and the quarantine policies"

Like flying in people from the epicentre (Wuhan) and just letting them take public transport home?

"Meanwhile infections keep rising on the base, but nobody can find out the real numbers as they are now not releasing them."

You mean like how they can't trace infection in the rest of the nation because they waited too long and still have too little testing to even start to find the clusters?

"The young military populace is asymptomatic and spreading it outside their gates to the local community."

Unlike the rest of the nations? And I'd like to know how you know they are infected but asymptotic, Doctor.

"They act like Japan is the problem while the USA is on fire right now."

You remind me of the Japanese government and pundits who at the start of this, and still now to an extent, blamed foreigners bringing the disease in, how the handling of it was perfect here but outside factors are to blame, etc. etc. The US is on fire now, for sure, but blaming them for Japan's failure from beginning to even now is folly and misdirected, not to mention part of the very reason it continues to spread and not be dealt with seriously. Let me guess... your solution to this problem would be to get rid of the bases rather than implementing nation-wide testing and a complete lockdown of hot spots?

Okinawan people please take care yourselves.In a small island with this invisible enemy and to dwell military soldiers/staffs of the mostly affected Covid-19.

I have say the nation most affected of Covid-19 not the military in Okinawa, Sorry the omit of that.

@Tom, thanks for the reply but your behind the times like most who are not in the loop. TomToday 04:46 pm JST

Yes, I did see inefficiency at times, but here is the gig. The US government pays the salaries of its personnel only. All Japanese nationals, construction workers, buildings, water, gas, electric, trash., etc., etc. is paid for by the Japanese government. If they cannot control their own ineptitudes, then they pay more through contact agreements.

First of all you start of Camp Zama? Please that is nothing but admin support, not much in the way of boots on ground defense for Japan. Importantly that used to the be case of salaries for personnel, but obviously you haven't been involved with where the funding comes from. Yes US tax payer money is paid out to all the above as the cost sharing started shrinking over 10 yrs ago. Yes US tax money is given in awards to local contractor companies keeping Japanese locals gainfully employed vs a US worker be it federal or contract employee. They do pay a portion but not like in the many years past just like that old mentality of Japan pays for all US base costs. Nope that slowly changed please refer starting in 2015 it has the slice of their cost sharing. It has changed tremendously. Sorry its about time to stand up and hence support our President he right, our people lose jobs to the foreigners but I guess you support that. During the Clinton regime the regs were changed unbeknown to many simply because they don't read. However be it told where do you think the millions in coronavirus aid to the US public is coming from. Hint money is not going to the WHO where the VP of Japan even stated publicly the CHO. hmmm. Sorry Tom but I do thank you for taking the time to respond. Sincerely.

Okinawan people please take care yourselves.In a small island with this invisible enemy and to dwell military soldiers/staffs of the mostly affected Covid-19.

Sincerely, thank you! I have no idea who in the world would find anything "wrong" with your comment, but dont worry! Your sentiments are appreciated!

@rgc: Thanks for responding and being polite as well. I am not sure if you are allowed to send a link, but I cannot find any information on most recent expenditures for base support whether for Zama protecting the golf course or other bases.

Let me know if you can, and I can update my knowledge base. Thanks

US bases seem always quarantined (as ordinary people can't enter) and have good military hospitals in there. Seem no problem. Stay at bases.

Tom,

Private Japanese Companies who do construction or maintenance work inside the U.S. Bases are paid by the U.S. Military unless it is a GOJ Project then it is paid for by Japan. All Japanese who work inside the U.S. Bases and are MLC and work directly for the Military or are IHA and work for organizations like AAFES, MWR or MCCS are paid for by the Japanese Govt. I cannot speak for Mainland Japan but inside the Bases on Okinawa there are a lot of U.S. Civilians and Military Dependents working so the idea that Japanese are taking work away from U.S. Citizens is nonsense. Again I cannot speak for Mainland Japan but on Okinawa the Japanese Govt. has built excellent housing, dependent schools, daycare centers, medical facilities and leisure facilities for the U.S. Military and their families. The bottom line is that the Japanese Govt. has spent more money on the U.S. Military and their families than any other host nation in the world.

@Yubaru

Be nice to have the numbers of military who have actually contacted the virus be openly shared with the general public here.

I think you have the right to be concerned, but sharing that information with the world about service members' health is dangerous, and honestly, I highly doubt any world power would reasonably do the same.

On the flip side, several weeks before Abe finally came to his senses and called the state of emergency, US military commanders began taking this extremely seriously. Anyone caught violating the policies is punished. Meanwhile, military personnel moving from city to city (domestic OR international) are held in quarantine for at least 14 days before being allowed to move around. There are daily screenings, and anyone exhibiting symptoms are to be tested.

If you want to criticize what the U.S. military is doing in terms of reporting, I hope you realize that it's kept quiet for their protection, and meanwhile they are doing MUCH, MUCH more to contain the pandemic than any Japanese prefecture has done to date. Let's work together to do the same off base as well.

smithinjapanApr. 15  04:16 pm JST Gotta hurt when the US -- leader in the world in infection and death, not to mention stupidity in dealing with the virus -- calls you out on inaction.

A bit of a mischaracterization of how things have progressed here. NYC weights the national figures as no other state is near the numbers of infections and mortality of the city and state. NJ and Connecticut are essentially extensions of NYC.

You will find that blue state governors, namely California, Washington, Colorado, Oregon and NY, were proactive. Louisiana is the noted exception. Otherwise, the states hit worst are mostly in the South. Mississippi and Alabama, sandwiched by Louisiana (21,000+), Florida (nearly 21,000) and Georgia (14,000+), have apparently stopped reporting figures to the CDC as their numbers have not changed in over a week. Both are reporting less than 4,000 cases and they were two of the last states to take any actions to slow the spread of the virus.

Tokyo needs to look to NYC for guidance since it is even more densely populated and equally reliant on mass transit.

Just tell them Go Home.

@Jeff Huffman - the numbers are updated in real time for the states you mentioned above. Not sure where you are seeing that numbers are not being relayed to the CDC. Especially Georgia, since the CDC is has its headquarters located in Atlanta.

Yes I do agree that Tokyo should be looking at the lessons learned from NYC. With the late quarantine the amount of folks infected still over burdened the healthcare system - even with a Navy reserve hospital ship that arrived to help. Lots of people literally died in their apartments and homes and have been discovered more recently. Very serious and very sad.

Justin GerryApr. 16  05:00 am JST @Jeff Huffman - the numbers are updated in real time for the states you mentioned above. Not sure where you are seeing that numbers are not being relayed to the CDC. Especially Georgia, since the CDC is has its headquarters located in Atlanta.

You need to read more carefully. I was referring to Alabama and Mississippi. Their numbers of infected are grossly underreported to the CDC, who is dependent on states to report ot them. Arkansas has probably been misrepresenting its figures as well.