Beijing, January 2 (Xinhua) -- A cluster of new coronavirus infections recently occurred at the Belgian Antarctic Scientific Expedition Station, although it is located in a remote corner of the world and everyone has completed the full vaccination of the new crown vaccine.
According to British media reports on January 1, the Belgian Antarctic "Princess Elizabeth Polar Station" currently has 25 staff, and 16 people have been confirmed to be infected with the new crown virus since December 14 last year. Official sources say the infected people are currently mildly symptoms.
The picture shows the sea iceberg near China's Antarctic Zhongshan Station taken on February 14, 2019 (Photo by Liu Shiping, Xinhua News Agency)
Joseph Cheek, project manager of the International Polar Foundation, the station's operator, said that despite the inconvenience caused by the isolation of infected people, the overall work of the research station has not been affected. He said all the stationers could leave on Jan. 12, but they all wanted to be able to stay in Antarctica.
The Belgian media "Evening News" was the first to report a cluster of infections at the Princess Elisabeth station. The first infected person was confirmed on 14 December last year, and he arrived in Antarctica with a team seven days before that. However, after the team and other infected people were isolated, The Princess Elizabeth station still reported more cases of infection. There are currently two doctors on the station.
Belgium has suspended the dispatch of personnel to the station until the outbreak subsides. According to the regulations, all resident personnel must complete the full vaccination of the new crown virus before arriving in Antarctica, and the new crown virus test result is negative. (Yuan Yuan)
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