We can now say that Covid-19 has reached every place on Earth.

The virus has turned up in Antarctica according to Chile’s military. Their army officials scrambled to clear and quarantine members of a research station that is surrounded by nothing but fringed air, water, snow, and ice.

According to reports 36 people have been infected at the Bernardo O’Higgins base, including 26 army personnel and 10 civilian maintenance contractors.

The station is permanently staffed and operated by Chile’s army. It's nestled near the tip of a peninsula located on the northernmost Antarctica region, and overlooks a bay.

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There have not been any complications yet. No one has died. Everyone who has COVID-19 on the station has been isolated and is being monitored.

Several countries have research stations in Antarctica. As you might imagine while they are the most remote places on the planet they still rotate staff and receive visitors for research and resupply. This station though, they had taken every precaution.

Chile’s Navy reported 3 cases of COVID-19 among 208 crew members that had been to their research center back in December. The theory so far is that is where the outbreak came from.

So, despite every precaution, and despite being at one of the hardest to get to locations on the face of the Earth, with a small crew that is isolated from the rest of the world, they still got it.

Perhaps this goes to show that when everything we can think of has been done we still have not done enough.

 

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