Coronavirus: lockdown at isolated Antarctic bases as world battles Covid-19
- Researchers hunker down in their bases on only continent still free from the coronavirus
- Crisis could seriously impact progress of scientific study, particularly climate change
In the frozen and desolate expanse of Antarctica, Alejandro Valenzuela Pena is used to a feeling of isolation. Now, however, that has taken on a new meaning as the only continent still free from the coronavirus looks to keep the pandemic out.
The global spread of the disease, with almost 2 million cases and 125,000 deaths, has put the Antarctic region into lockdown, with researchers hunkering down in their bases and tourist visits cancelled.
“We are trained to live in isolation, but now with this special condition that has presented itself, we are isolated within isolation,” said Valenzuela, 41, who is the maritime governor of Chile’s Antarctica territory.
Speaking by phone from the Escudero military base in Bahia Fildes, the extreme southwest of King George Island, Valenzuela said his 100-person naval crew was grappling with self-isolation but that early moves to lock things down had helped.
“The bases closed up in time,” he said. Boats had stopped arriving in early March and flights by the end of the month, he added. “Since then we’ve been really isolated, with no contact.”