Lavish Antarctic isolation keeps coronavirus at bay

SANTIAGO, Chile – As the planet struggles with the seemingly inexorable spread of the coronavirus, Antarctica remains the only continent free of COVID-19, thanks mainly to tight security and not a bit of luck.

The natural isolation of the frozen and desolate expanse has been pushed to new extremes since the WHO declared a pandemic on March 11.

Authorities canceled all tourism, evacuated non-essential personnel and prohibited contacts between international ice stations.

“We are isolated within this natural isolation that we already have,” Alejandro Valenzuela, the maritime governor of the Antarctic territory of Chile, told AFP by telephone.

New strict health protocols were quickly established and visits were limited to vital supplies.

Chile has minimized its Antarctic personnel, maintaining a skeleton force of 10 navy members at its Escudero military base in Bahia Fildes in the South Shetlands.

The harsh environment has always required close cooperation between various international missions.

Nearby is one of the five Russian bases, as well as missions from Uruguay, Korea and China. Supplies are often unloaded and loaded together and recreation areas are shared.

There were sports competitions and mutual invitations for national day celebrations and birthday parties.

But fear of the coronavirus has ended all physical contact between the bases.

LUCK DISCOUNT

Antarctica had a stroke of luck when the start of the crisis coincided with the end of the tourist season, which draws around 50,000 visitors a year on cruises to see penguins and seals in the pristine environment.

The last tourist boat arrived in Bahía Fildes on March 3, just when the first case of infection was reported in Chile.

And the mainland dodged a bullet when an inland Australian tourist ship, the Greg Mortimer, was forced to return when the first cases of COVID-19 were discovered on board, an outbreak that eventually affected nearly 217 passengers and crew. .

Starting in April, as the southern winter approaches and the sun becomes a memory, weather conditions prevent almost all essential travel to and from the mainland, further isolating staff.

The declaration of a pandemic made the controls even tighter, Valenzuela said.

“Supplies are disinfected before they can be brought in and contact with the ship is minimal. People stay on board and we have no direct contact now,” he said.

Strict hygiene controls are also applied at Eduardo Frei Air Base in Chile. The maximum number of people allowed to eat at a table in the canteen at any time is limited to four, and sports activities in the gym and indoor recreation dome are suspended.

ONE YEAR OF ISOLATION

Uruguay reduced staff at its Artigas base to just nine people, after recently evacuating 10 non-essential people.

“The next change will be in the first fortnight of December, so the people who leave there will spend the whole winter there,” Rear Admiral Manuel Burgos, president of the Arctic Institute of Uruguay, told AFP.

Uruguayans who stayed behind, like the Chilean Marines, will have no contact with the other bases.

“We are very aware of what we are experiencing. We accept it with resolution and we do not get carried away,” said Valenzuela, who arrived in Antarctica in November for a period that will last a full year.

The spirit among those there is strong. So much so, Valenzuela said, “that now we are the ones who send messages of encouragement to our families.”

pa / pb / lda / db / caw

© Agence France-Presse