The Marines in Japan continue to have rising COVID case numbers:
Another 73 people were confirmed positive for COVID-19 at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni over the four-day New Year’s holiday, according to base news releases Friday and Monday.
The base 25 miles south of Hiroshima has reported 143 cases of the coronavirus respiratory disease since Dec. 27. Its new case numbers surged suddenly but fall short of the 200-plus at Marine Corps bases on Okinawa where a viral cluster erupted in mid-November.
Another Marine Corps installation, Combined Arms Training Center Camp Fuji, reported 10 COVID-19 cases between Dec. 27 and 28, according to a base news release Wednesday.
Tokyo reported 103 new cases Monday, the first time the capital city has confirmed more than 100 infections on one day since Oct. 8, according to NHK.
The public broadcaster also reported Monday that Okinawa prefecture, where the bulk of U.S. forces in Japan are stationed, reported 130 cases Monday, breaking 100 for the first time since Sept. 25.
Okinawa public health authorities reported 235 cases within the U.S. military on Saturday, a single-day record for that population, according to The Asahi newspaper on Sunday. A spokesman for Marine Corps Installations Pacific did not return an email request for comment Monday from Stars and Stripes.
Japan overall reported 477 new cases Sunday, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link, but Japan with 477 case numbers is still incredibly low though the number has been growing the past three weeks.