A Belgian scientific research station in Antarctica has confirmed an outbreak of Covid-19, despite its team being fully vaccinated, according to information published by BBC News.
Even in one of the most remote regions in the world, which operates under strict preventive measures, at least 16 of the 25 employees of the Princess Elisabeth polar station have been tested positive for coronaviruses.
The cases, according to official information, were not serious. Joseph Cheek, project manager for the International Polar Foundation, told the BBC that although the team members were quarantined, it did not significantly affect the station’s work.
“Residents were given the opportunity to leave the station on a flight scheduled for January 12. However, everyone expressed a desire to stay and continue their work,” added Creek.
The information about the Covid outbreak was originally published by the Belgian vehicle Le Soir Mag, which claimed that the first positive test was registered on December 14, among people from a team that had arrived seven days earlier.
The team members were quarantined, but the virus continued to dissipate.
According to Le Soir Mag, the chance of infections being omicron-related is high, as South Africa, where the new variant was identified, has recently sent members to Antarctica.
Anyone arriving at the Princess Elisabeth base must be fully vaccinated and have undergone tests for coronaviruses, according to information from the BBC.
The Princess Elisabeth station, which has two emergency physicians, is operated by the International Polar Foundation and entered service in 2009.
Until December 2020, Antarctica was the only continent still free of the coronavirus, a month in which the Chilean Army registered at least 36 cases in its research station.
In August 2020 the Covid-19 pandemic caused the cancellation of all field research in Brazil scheduled for the summer of 2021 in Antarctica.
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