Members of China s 38th Antarctic scientific expedition team said on Monday that the team had been following strict epidemic prevention measures and members are not allowed to visit other countries stations, and all team members are doing well at the moment.
Philippe SIUBERSKI/AFP via Getty Images(NEW YORK) A research station in Antarctica is battling a COVID-19 outbreak despite being located in one of the most remote corners of the world. Since mid-December, 16 of the 25 workers at Belgium's Princess Elisabeth Polar Station have tested positive for the virus. According to the French-language magazine Le Soir, the first positive COVID-19 case was confirmed on Dec. 14 in a worker who had traveled to Antarctica with a group via Belgium and South Africa. Before arriving in South Africa, the workers were required to have a negative PCR test at least two hours prior to the flight. The employees then had to quarantine in South Africa for 10 days before taking another PCR test. The group was again tested five days after arriving in Antarctica. After the first infection was confirmed seven days following arrival at the station two more workers from the travel group tested positive. The three patients were evacuated on Dec. 23, but the v
Two thirds of the 25 workers have tested positive at the station, despite all of them being fully vaccinated and going through several testing stages being allowed entrance.