ANTARCTICA is in the midst of a coronavirus outbreak among Polar researchers despite health precautions being taken and the continents remote location.
Two thirds of the staff based at Belgium’s Princess Elisabeth Polar Station have caught the Omicron variant, according to Le Soir newspaper. All staff passed multiple PCR tests, quarantining, and being fully vaccinated with one having received a booster shot.
Before leaving for the station, they had a PCR test two hours prior to a flight to South Africa. In South Africa they then quarantined for ten days before taking another PCR test.
They were also tested before leaving Cape Town for Antarctica and also a final one five days after arrival.
Polar researchers in Antarctica are living in one of the most remote places in the world.
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