U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni (Mainichi/Norio Oyama)

       YAMAGUCHI -- Eighty coronavirus infections have been newly confirmed among personnel at U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, the Yamaguchi Prefectural Government announced on Dec. 29.

       U.S. Forces Japan have not disclosed whether the COVID-19 cases found at the airbase are omicron variant infections.

       The prefectural government also revealed that two personnel in their 30 and 40s posted at the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF)'s Iwakuni Base have been infected with the omicron variant. The prefecture believes that they may have contracted the virus at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, where the facilities are shared by the forces of both countries.

       Yamaguchi Gov. Tsugumasa Muraoka told a press conference at the prefectural government building that he had requested that the U.S. air station take thorough anti-infection measures.

       (Japanese original by Sawako Mori and Nanako Hori, Yamaguchi Bureau)

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