Antarctica, the last stand, falls to COVID
Antarctica, the last stand, falls to COVID
Agencies / Updated: Dec 24, 2020, 06:00 IST
58 persons, including those on military bases and aboard a navy ship of Chile in
Antarctica, tested positive for the
infection
SANTIAGOThe pandemic has finally reached every continent on Earth. Chilean authorities announced that 58 people that were at two military bases in Antarctica or on a navy ship that went to the continent tested positive for the new coronavirus. So far, no other country with a presence in Antarctica has publicly reported any other cases.
Chile s army announced Monday that 36 people at the Gen Bernardo O Higgins Riquelme Antarctic base have tested positive, and on Tuesday the health minister for the Biobio region in Chile said there are 21infections involving people aboard the Chilean navy s Sergeant Aldea supply vessel. One more case was reported in Las Estrellas village, where civilian personnel working at the Lieutenant R
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The pandemic has reached every continent on Earth.
Chilean authorities announced that at least 58 people at two military bases in Antarctica, or on a navy ship that went to the continent, tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
So far, no other country with a presence in Antarctica has publicly reported other cases. There are 36 coronavirus cases at the Gen. Bernardo O’Higgins Riquelme Antarctic base, Chile says. (Google Street View) (Google Street View)
Chile’s army announced Monday that 36 people at the Gen. Bernardo O’Higgins Riquelme Antarctic base tested positive, and on Tuesday, the health minister for the Biobio region in Chile said there are 21 infections involving people aboard the Chilean navy’s Sergeant Aldea supply vessel.
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2:05 p.m. | Jacksonville firefighters begin getting COVID-19 vaccine as the year of the pandemic winds to a close
It has been a tough year for Jacksonville s firefighters, suiting up for viral protection to help hundreds sickened by the COVID-19 virus as they see dozens of their co-workers quarantined due to exposure or worse.
On top of that, firefighters have been burned while battling a ship fire on Blount Island and as they looked for a victim in a burning house, and injured when a fire engine rolled over on Interstate 95.
So when the first firefighters received the Moderna vaccine Wednesday to combat COVID-19 as they prepare to help administer it across the city, Chief Keith Powers said he was glad that his unites got it this quick.
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Dr. Cindy Prins, as epidemiologist at the University of Florida, once told me that COVID-19 is a behavioral disease. What she meant was that people who work from home, or those who in general avoid other people, have a very low risk of getting infected with it. That is because the coronavirus spreads from person to person, through respiratory droplets from coughing, sneezing, or talking. This is part of the reason why remote locations where people infrequently go like Antarctica have been able to avoid its deathly grip thus far.
Unfortunately, the icy southernmost continent is no longer untouched by the pandemic.