Coronavirus: An outbreak detected in Antarctica, the only continent spared so far -

20 Minutes

No continent is spared.

An outbreak of coronavirus has been detected on a military base in Antarctica, the only continent that has so far not been affected by the pandemic, the Chilean army has announced.

“36 men tested positive for Covid-19, of which 26 were soldiers and 10 were civilians from a service company which carried out scheduled maintenance work on the Antarctic base” by Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme, the statement said.

Contamination linked to logistical support

The contagion dates back to the recent visit to the base of the Chilean navy ship "Sargento Aldea", which carried out logistical support maneuvers between November 27 and December 10.

After completing his mission and arriving at the port of Talcahuano on December 16, three positive cases were detected out of a total of 208 crew members.

Until then, Antarctica was one of the few regions in the world where no case of coronavirus had been recorded, after the implementation of restrictions and the cancellation of tourist trips.

Our file on the coronavirus

All non-essential personnel had been evacuated at the start of the pandemic and it had been decided to prohibit all contact between personnel from the forty or so international military and scientific bases installed there.

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