[ad_1]
SANTIAGO – The coronavirus has reached Antarctica, the only continent until recently free from Covid-19, the Chilean military said this week, and health and military officials rushed to retrieve and quarantine station personnel. remote investigation fenced. across the ocean and icebergs.
Mutation: Scientists discover a new strain with a mutation of the Covid-19 virus in Rio
The Chilean Armed Forces said that at least 36 people were infected at its Bernardo O’Higgins base, of which 26 were civil servants and 10 civil service providers who performed maintenance at the base.
The permanent occupation research station, which is operated by the Chilean Army, is located near the tip of a peninsula at the northern tip of Antarctica overlooking a bay full of icebergs.
Do the test: What’s Your Place in the Vaccine Line?
Base personnel “are already properly isolated and constantly monitored” by health authorities in Magalhães, in Chilean Patagonia, the army said, adding that there have been no complications so far.
Antarctic research and military stations, which are among the most remote in the world, have gone to great lengths in recent months to keep the virus at bay, canceling tourism, reducing activities and personnel and banning facilities.
COVID-19: Everything we know about the new UK coronavirus variant so far
Researchers from the British Antarctic Agency estimate that around 1,000 people from 38 stations across the frozen continent made it through the southern hemisphere winter without incident, but an increase in travel to and from the region in the spring and early summer intensified. the risk of infections.
