--- title: "Coronavirus Has Officially Hit Antarctica" description: "A Chilean research base on Antarctica reported 36 new infections, including 26 members of the Chilean army and 10 maintenance workers." date: "2020-12-22" modified: "2020-12-22" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/coronavirus-antarctica" categories: - "Developments" - "Health & Medicine" - "Medical" - "Pathogens" - "Viruses" tags: - "Antarctica" - "coronavirus" - "covid19" --- # Coronavirus Has Officially Hit Antarctica ![A Chilean research base on Antarctica reported 36 new infections, including 26 members of the Chilean army and 10 maintenance workers.]() *\Image: DLR\* The coronavirus has officially reached the final continent: Antarctica. A Chilean research base on the frosty landmass has reported 36 new infections, including 26 members of the Chilean army and 10 maintenance workers, [*The Guardian* reports](). These are the first cases reported in Antarctica, which had been the last continent to escape the pandemic. [According to *Newsweek*](), three crew members on a ship bringing supplies to the Chilean base tested positive upon returning back home. The service members and maintenance workers have been evacuated to Punta Arenas, Chile, a city near the top of the country's southernmost region. "All present a favorable diagnostic and without any complication associated with the virus," an army statement read, as [quoted by *The Sydney Morning Herald*](). All major research projects in Antarctica have ground to a halt during the pandemic, according to *The Guardian*. "The remote nature of Antarctica heightens any health risks, so access to Antarctica may be constrained for longer periods," the University of Tasmania's Hanne Nielsen, who had been studying the impact of tourism cancellation on Antarctica, [told *ABC Australia*](). ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()