With the rest of the nations prepping to protect themselves from the new mutant strain of the deadly virus, the only continent that remained free of covid-19, Antarctica, has reported its first cases, sending shock waves across the globe.
The continent that houses different types of seals, penguins, whales, bears, and other species of animals, has no permanent human resident. The only people living in the region are researchers and scientists, 1000 of whom arrived in winter this year and were staying normally as the virus hadn’t stretched out its wings to the icy place yet.
There are reports of 36 new infections from Antarctica out of which 26 are members of the Chilean army and 10 are maintenance workers at the Chilean research base.
On Monday, Spanish media outlets said the outbreak was registered at the General Bernardo O’Higgins Riquelme research base, one of the 13 Chilean bases on the island.
The Chilean army released a statement saying, “Thanks to the timely preventive action … it was possible to relieve said personnel, who, after being subjected to a medical control and the administration of a PCR test … turned out to be positive for Covid-19,” according to Newsweek.
Following their return from Antarctica, another 3 crew members who were stationed to support the research base have also tested positive for covid-19. These 3 were among the 208 members of a ship that sailed the region between November 27th to October 10th.
All the 36 infected individuals are staying isolated after shifting them to Punta Arenas in Chile. They are reported to be in a good condition.
The virus’s presence in the island has become a hurdle for the major research programs taking place as all projects have been stopped for now. As such, the research work of many scientists in the world also has to get halted.
When the globe went into a state of lockdown in March that was induced by the coronavirus, experts of the frozen continent believed that the spread could prove to be a major threat to the functioning of the world, especially Antarctica.
The continent, whose size is almost the combined area of the US and Mexico, owns the strongest winds and coldest temperatures in the world. This weather is already posing a grave danger to the workers on the island.
According to a document by the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs seen by the Associated Press: “A highly infectious novel virus with significant mortality and morbidity in the extreme and austere environment of Antarctica with limited sophistication of medical care and public health responses is high risk with potentially catastrophic consequences.”
With the absence of any high-class technologies and medical aids, Antarctica’s virus spread can prove to be extremely dangerous, reports say.
Previously, close to 1,000 people at 38 statins had safely traveled across the continent to the southern hemisphere without the occurrence of any mishap or unfortunate incident, researchers with the British Antarctic Survey said. However, increased travel during spring and early summer this year has heightened the risks.
The first cases were reported in mid-December itself as 2 soldiers had fallen sick, an army press officer said.
The Magallanes region that is filled with gushes of cold winds, glaciers, and frozen mountains, has been under quarantine for months now. It is the worst-hit region with covid-19 in Chile.
