The Covid-19 was invited this weekend to the Argentinian scientific and military base Esperanza, located in Antarctica, official sources indicated on Thursday.
Some 24 of the 43 occupants were contaminated.
Nine of them, who were not vaccinated, were evacuated by helicopter on Saturday in a delicate operation during a weather window of a few hours, and transferred by plane to Buenos Aires for isolation, although none be sick.
"The situation is under control, and the rest of the Argentine bases are not affected by Covid-19," said National Director for Antarctica Patricia Ortuzar.
The Esperanza base, a research station at the end of the Antarctic Peninsula (north-west), is one of 13 Argentine bases on the continent, one of six permanent.
More than 200 scientists and soldiers stay on these bases in winter, about twice as many in summer.
The focus on Esperanza came last week after a staff turnover.
A member of the base experienced fever and headaches, and antigen tests were performed on all of them, giving 24 positive results, said Patricia Ortuzar.
No vaccination in Antarctica
Only nine people present since 2020 were not vaccinated, because it had been decided not to vaccinate in Antarctica, in the event of side effects on the spot in extreme environment, explained to the Telam agency the Commander for Antarctica, Edgar Calandin.
The nine members of the base were evacuated “as a precaution”, the other positive, asymptomatic, remaining on the spot.
Since the start of vaccination at the end of 2020, personnel entering the bases have been vaccinated beforehand.
A relief of some 300 scientists and soldiers, currently en route aboard an icebreaker, has also undergone tests and a preventive quarantine since the end of December.
The cases at Base Esperanza are not the first occurrence of Covid-19 in Antarctica: in December 2020, an outbreak of 36 cases was detected at the Chilean military base Bernardo O'Higgins.
