A research station in Antarctica is battling a coronavirus outbreak, with at least 16 of 25 workers testing positive for the virus.
The Princess Elisabeth Polar Station, a Belgian facility, has strict rules in place to avoid COVID-19[feminine[feminine infections, Le Soir reported.
According to the magazine, the first positive case was identified on December 14 among members of a team who arrived at the facility a week earlier following traveling from South Africa.
Two other members of the travel party then tested positive.
All three were evacuated on December 23, but more and more workers continued to contract COVID.
All team members have received two doses of the vaccine and none with the virus has severe symptoms, Le Soir reported.
The station has two emergency physicians on site, equipment to treat people who develop severe symptoms, and the ability to analyze PCR tests.
Workers are required to provide a negative test before traveling from Belgium to South Africa, while they must also self-quarantine in South Africa and test negative before traveling to Antarctica.
It was in South Africa that the most transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus was first identified.
Arrivals at the station, the world’s first zero-emission polar research station, have been banned until the outbreak is stopped.
Not all news on the site expresses the point of view of the site, but we transmit this news automatically and translate it using programmatic technology on the site and not from a human editor.
