Antarctica, which used to be the only continent not affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, recorded the first cases on December 21.
Guardian cites the Spanish media as saying 36 cases were discovered at the Antarctic research facility Bernardo O’Higgins Riquelme of Chile. Among them, 26 are from the Chilean military and 10 are facility maintenance workers.
According to Newsweek, three sailors aboard a base support ship also tested positive for the virus after returning from Antarctica on December 21.
36 people with Covid-19 on the General Bernardo O’Higgins Riquelme research station were evacuated to the city of Punta Arenas in Chile. They are on quarantine and still in good health.
The Bernardo O’Higgins Riquelme research station is one of 13 Chilean facilities in Antarctica.
Attempts to stop the corona virus in Antarctica come at a very high price. All major research projects in Antarctica were halted, interrupting the work of scientists around the world.
Antarctica has no permanent residents. However, this place usually has about 1,000 researchers and visitors, according to the AP.
ABC said the Scientific Commission for Antarctic Research is looking at how the Covid-19 pandemic affected the continent.
According to Hanne Nielsen of the University of Tasmania, Australia, who considers the impact of a tourist season cancellation in Antarctica, the viral presence on the continent will have a lot of impact.
"The discovery of Covid-19 cases in Antarctica will affect a wide range of areas, from planning to logistics for human operations here," said Ms. Nielsen.
"Being in a remote location puts any health risks higher than in Antarctica. Covid-19's presence in Antarctica also has an impact on local wildlife, with humans being termites. threatens to transmit the virus to other species ", Ms. Nielsen added.