Prolonged incubation? In Argentina it is difficult to decipher how 57 sailors became infected in Corona even though they were tested before sailing and stayed at sea for a month

• Mystery: How did 57 sailors get infected in Corona while sailing in the middle of the sea?

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Argentina seeks to solve a medical mystery after dozens of sailors on an Argentine fishing boat contracted the corona virus despite being housed in a hotel for two weeks of isolation, before going out to sea. According to reports from the South American country, 57 sailors out of 61, who stayed at sea for 35 days, became infected even though they all underwent corona tests before going out to sea.

Health authorities in the "Land of Fire" district, the southern tip of South America, explained that the fishing vessel, Achesen Marrow, returned to the port in the city of Ushuaia after crew members began showing symptoms. Only two sailors out of 61 received negative results, while two more sailors were hospitalized while waiting for results.

"It is difficult to determine how this team became infected given the fact that for 35 days they had no contact with the mainland and that supplies were brought in only from the port of Ushuaia," explained Alejandra Alpro, director of health at the Land of Fire. According to her, the medical authorities are conducting an epidemiological investigation to reconstruct the infection process.

The head of the Infectious Diseases Department at Ushuaia Regional Hospital, Landro Baltour, said he believed it was "a case that did not appear in any medical publication, because such a long incubation period has not been described anywhere."