On Sunday, the General Bernardo O’Higgins Riquelme Base, a Chilean research base on Antarctica’s northernmost Trinity Peninsula, confirmed that 26 military personnel and 10 civilians working as contractors on the base had tested positive with Covid-19.
The outbreak comes after at least three people tested positive for Covid-19 on a military ship that provided logistical support to the O’Higgins base between Nov. 27 and Dec. 10.
According to a Chilean Navy statement, they were tested after two soldiers tested positive for the virus after disembarkation at the Port of Punta Arenas in Chile on Dec. 10.
All 208 crew members underwent coronavirus testing on Wednesday, with three positive Covid-19 cases identified.
The Sargento Aldea is now in “preventive quarantine,” the statement said.
The personnel at O’Higgins base are isolated and “continuously monitored with the support of the Magallanes Health Authority and the Chilean Antarctic Region, providing a favorable diagnosis so far and without any complications related to COVID-19 by us. personnel “, according to the Chilean military statement.
The military added that they have “an unconditional commitment to protect the health of its members.”