After around one year of surfacing of COVID-19 in China, the viral infection has now spread to the continent Antarctica.

As many as 36 people staying at a Chilean research centre, the General Bernardo O’Higgins Riquelme, have been infected with coronavirus. 26 of them are army personnel and 10 others maintenance workers.

American weekly magazine, Newsweek has quoted the Chilean army as saying: “Thanks to the timely preventive action … it was possible to relieve said personnel, who, after being subjected to a medical control and the administration of a PCR test … turned out to be positive for Covid-19.”

The magazine also reported that three officials posted on a ship for extending support to the research centre had also contracted the disease since they returned from Antarctica. All the affectees have been isolated in a Chilean city.