It held out for nearly a year, but Antarctica has finally been hit by the coronavirus, making it the last continent on earth to be struck by the pandemic. Reports say an outbreak has swept through a Chilean research base, with 26 members of the Chilean army and 10 maintenance workers testing positive. The 36 infected individuals have been evacuated to the city of Punta Arenas in Chile, according to The Guardian, and none are seriously ill. The positive tests came despite a monumental effort to prevent the coronavirus from reaching Antarctica—anyone who visits a station has to undergo isolation and COVID-19 screening. It’s not yet known how an infected individual slipped through the net.
