JOHANNESBURG (AP) – At the very moment a vast world exists that is free of coronaviruses, where people can mingle without masks and cause epidemics thousands of miles away.
That world is Antarctica, the only continent without COVID-19. Now, with about 1,000 scientists and others who have seen the sun for the first time in weeks or months raining on ice, global efforts are seeking to ensure that future allies do not bring the virus with them.
“It’s like our safe little bubble,” described field guide Rob Taylor, from the Rothera Research Station in the UK on the Antarctic Peninsula, which curls up to the top of South America.
In the pre-coronavirus days, long-term loneliness, self-reliance, and stress were the norm for Antarctic teams while the rest of the world saw their lives as very extreme.
How times have changed.
“In general, the freedoms given to us in the UK are wider than at the height of the lockdown,” said Taylor, who arrived in October and missed the entire epidemic. “We can ski, socialize in general, use the gym, for all intents and purposes.”
Like the teams in Antarctica, including the South Pole, Taylor and his 26 colleagues must be proficient in all sorts of tasks in a remote, communal environment with little space for error. They turn to cooking, observing the weather and “do a lot of sewing,” he said.
1 in 5 hospitalized young adults need ICU after coronavirus screening
Good internet connections mean they watched closely as the epidemic orbited the rest of the planet. Until this year, focused on preparing newcomers in conversations with incoming colleagues. Now the advice goes both ways.
“I’m sure there’s a lot they can tell us that will help us adapt to new ways of doing things,” Taylor said. “We have no practice yet on social distance.”
At New Zealand’s Scott Base, the filmmaking competition with mini-golf rounds and other Antarctic bases has been the Southern Hemisphere’s winter highlights, culminating in the Scott team’s sighting of the sun last Friday. It was away from April.
“I think there’s going to be a little bit different,” said Rory O’Connor, the doctor and the team’s winter leader, watching the epidemic from a distance. “You accept it in mind, but I don’t think it’s entirely determined by the emotional turmoil we’ve created.”
His family in the UK will still not trade places with him. “They didn’t understand why I came down here.” “Months of darkness. Stuck inside with a small group of people. Where is the joy in this? ”
O’Connor said the allies would start arriving late Monday, a week later, after which they would be able to test for the virus, as a huge storm has caused 20 feet (6-meters) of snow to fall. Pulling down activities to provide heating, water, electricity and food, he said any case of the virus would trigger a “red reaction level”.
While COVID-19 has shaken some diplomatic relations, the 30 countries that make up managers of national Antarctic programs will join as soon as possible to keep the virus at bay. Elsewhere, officials said, citing unique teamwork between the United States, China, Russia and others, diplomats could be busy cutting.
As the frightened world watched in March, Antarctic programs agreed that the epidemic could be a major disaster. With the world’s strongest winds and coldest temperatures, the size of the continent is dangerous for workers on a nearly 40-year basis in the United States and Mexico.
“Significant deaths in Antarctica’s extreme and harsh environments with limited sophistication of medical care and public health responses and a significant infectious novel virus in a distorted environment are at high risk with potential catastrophic consequences,” according to a com- pany document viewed by the Associated Press. According to the document.
Antarctica can only be reached by a few air entrances or by ship, so “efforts should be made immediately to prevent the virus from reaching the continent,” he said.
No more contact with tourists, COMNAP warns. “No cruise ships should land.” And for Antarctic teams located close to each other, “mutual visits between stations / facilities and social events should be discontinued.”
Antarctic workers have long been trained in hand washing and “sneeze etiquette”, but COMNAP slipped into the reminder and added, “Don’t touch your face.”
U.S. Stephanie Short, head of logistics for the Antarctic program, said the U.S. Increases “thanks” to medical and other supplies for the winter and beyond.
“We have rescheduled a full research season in a matter of weeks, facing high levels of uncertainty in my 25-year government career,” he said.
The Antarctic foundations soon slipped into a solitary month known as winter. Now, with the glitter of spring, the next big test has begun.
“Everyone is sending fewer people to the ice for the summer,” said Michelle Finemore, executive secretary of the Commonwealth.
Help the North Carolina couple as they are part of the moment of death from coronavirus
In the gateway city of Christchurch, New Zealand, Operation Deep Freeze is preparing to take about 120 people on an airlift to M Cumerdo, America’s largest station. To limit contact between Antarctic workers and the flight crew, the aircraft has a separate toilet facility mounted on a pallet.
The American bubble hit the U.S. in early August. Started before leaving and continued until reaching the ice. They have been isolated in more New Zealand hotel rooms since the 14-day quarantine. Their departure has been delayed for weeks due to bad weather. Now it is planned for Monday.
“We’re trying to do a really good job of keeping their spirits up,” said Anthony Germain, chief contact for America’s Antarctic Program.
The U.S. is sending a third of its usual summer staff. The research will be impacted, although investing in robotics and instruments that can transmit data from the field will help a lot, said the U.S. with the National Science Foundation. Said Alexandra Ezer, head of Antarctic science for the program.
He said there was also a bit of sadness in the Covid-19 interruptions. “In some cases, we may have to make contingency arrangements to dig up equipment from the rebellion so that we can make sure we can still find it.”
Like other countries, New Zealand will prefer long-term data sets, dating back to the 1950s that measure climate, ozone levels, seismic activity and so on, Antarctica New Zealand chief executive Sarah Williams said. He said he was sending 100 people on ice instead of 350.
Some programs are postponing Antarctic operations until next year or 2022, said Nish Devanuth, South Africa director of Antarctic Support.
“I think the biggest concern for every country is that the finger is given to bring the virus.” “Everyone is safe against it.”
Gateway cities – Cape Town, Christchurch, Australia Hobart in Australia, Punta Arenas in Chile and Ushuaia in Argentina. Each has a quarantine and testing protocol for crew members on board or ships heading south.
Devananthan said Antarctica has always had its challenges, but when it comes to Covid-19 and the international community as a whole, “I would say it’s at the top of the list.”
A few weeks ago at McMurdo Station, workers conducted an exercise to emulate what the rest of the world knows best: wearing masks and social distance. Once they arrive it will be difficult to run to friends and hug them, said station manager Erin Harde.
He and others will start wearing masks two days before the newcomers dress up, he said, “to help us remember the muscles.” For the mask, the team robbed McMurdo’s craft room, stocked it with fabric and found designs online.
As the allies arrive, Heard will leave Antarctica. He must have thought of melting on the beach once. Now he is weighing the new normal. “Am I telling a friend to like me? I don’t know if I’m comfortable doing it, “he said, imagining getting off the plane.
“It would be very strange, honestly, to come from what looks like another planet.”
