With the infection of 36 people at a research base in Antarctica, COVID-19 has now truly become a global health crisis.
Chilean public officials announced on Monday that 26 members of the Chilean army and 10 maintenance workers had contracted the virus while stationed at General Bernardo O’Higgins Riquelme, a Chilean base on the southernmost continent. Some of the infected were experiencing symptoms prior to their positive diagnoses.
All 36 were evacuated to Punta Arenas in Chile and are currently in stable condition, according to Newsweek, citing Spanish-language reports. New personnel who have quarantined and tested negative replaced the infected crew members.
“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,” the Chilean army said in a statement.
The coronavirus has now reached all seven continents.
The diagnoses in Antarctica come amid a global rise in coronavirus cases. According to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker, more than 77 million cases have been recorded worldwide. Chile has recorded more than 580,000 cases to date.
As the virus continues to spread, public health officials have urged caution, especially in light of the increased risks associated with holiday travel. Last weekend alone, the Transportation Security Administration screened 2 million passengers throughout the United States, the first consecutive two-day period of more than 1 million travelers screened since the beginning of the pandemic. Immediately after Thanksgiving, the seven-day average for new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. rose to 196,882, a figure that health officials warn may be surpassed by the anticipated Christmas coronavirus surge.
Experts urge that the best course of action is for would-be travelers to err on the side of caution, hunkering down with their immediate households in favor of exorbitant travel or large gatherings.
“[My children] are not going to come home. That’s painful. We don’t like that,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the nation’s foremost infectious disease experts. “But that’s just one of the things you’re going to have to accept as we go through this unprecedented, challenging time.”
