COVID-19 s final frontier: Pandemic reaches Antarctica japantimes.co.jp - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from japantimes.co.jp Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Coronavirus reaches Antarctica, bringing pandemic to last untouched continent
By Eva Vergara
Dr. Chin-Hong explains how COVID-19 vaccines differ from traditional vaccines.
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - The pandemic has finally reached every continent on Earth.
Chilean authorities announced that at least 58 people that were at two military bases in Antarctica or on a navy ship that went to the continent tested positive for the new coronavirus.
So far no other country with a presence in Antarctica has publicly reported any other cases.
Chile s army announced Monday that 36 people at the Gen. Bernardo O Higgins Riquelme Antarctic base have tested positive, and on Tuesday the health minister for the Biobio region in Chile said there are 21 infections involving people aboard the Chilean navy s Sergeant Aldea supply vessel.
COVID-19 pandemic reaches Antarctica, Earth s last untouched continent abc11.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from abc11.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
COVID-19 cases linked to Chilean Antarctic operations rise to 58
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WedWednesday 23
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WedWednesday 23
DecDecember 2020 at 4:01am
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On Monday, Chile s military said at least 36 people had been infected at the Bernardo O Higgins base
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The number of coronavirus infections linked to Chilean Antarctic bases has risen by almost two thirds to 58, health authorities and the country s military say.
Key points:
Chilean authorities say there are now 58 coronavirus cases linked to two Antarctic bases and a Navy ship
The army said the first group of 36 people includes 26 members of the military and 10 civilian employees of a maintenance contract company. It said none so far had shown complications.
Michelle Rogan-Finnemore, executive secretary of the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs, said in a statement that the office received a report from the Chilean Antarctic Institute on Friday about positive cases aboard the Sergeant Aldea vessel “who would have disembarked in the ports of Punta Arenas and Talcahuano” on Chilean mainland.
“We have yet to receive further formal information,” she added.
The first three people on the Sergeant Aldea vessel tested positive last week and all 208 crewmembers are being quarantined aboard that ship, according to the navy. It said the vessel had serviced the base on the Trinity Peninsula between Nov. 27 and Dec. 10.