The 36 men are reportedly healthy but under quarantine in the southern Chilean city of Punta Arenas.
SANTIAGO, Chile — The pandemic has finally reached every continent on Earth.
Chilean authorities announced that at least 58 people who were at two military bases in Antarctica or on a navy ship that went to the continent tested positive for the new coronavirus.
So far no other country with a presence in Antarctica has publicly reported any other cases.
Chile's army announced Monday that 36 people at the Gen. Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme Antarctic base have tested positive, and on Tuesday the health minister for the Biobio region in Chile said there are 21 infections involving people aboard the Chilean navy's Sergeant Aldea supply vessel.
One more case was reported in Las Estrellas' village, where civilian personnel working at the Lieutenant Rodolfo Marsh Martin Air Force Base live, said Eduardo Castillo, regional health secretary for the Magallanes area, which oversee Chilean operations in the Antarctic. The Sargento Aldea ship docked at that village, he added.
People are also reading…
In this Jan. 20, 2015, file photo, wooden arrows show the distances to various cities on King George Island, Antarctica.
The army said the first group of 36 people includes 26 members of the military and 10 civilian employees of a maintenance contract company. It said none so far had shown complications.
Michelle Rogan-Finnemore, executive secretary of the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs, said in a statement that the office received a report from the Chilean Antarctic Institute on Friday about positive cases aboard the Sergeant Aldea vessel "who would have disembarked in the ports of Punta Arenas and Talcahuano" on Chilean mainland.
The first three people on the Sergeant Aldea vessel tested positive last week and all 208 crewmembers are being quarantined aboard that ship, according to the navy. It said the vessel had serviced the base on the Trinity Peninsula between Nov. 27 and Dec. 10.
The U.S. National Science Foundation, the agency overseeing U.S. programs in Antarctica, said it was aware of the reports of positive cases in passengers aboard the Sergeant Aldea.
"Personnel at U.S. Antarctic Program stations have had no interactions with the Chilean stations in question or the personnel who reside there," the foundation said. "NSF remains committed to not exchanging personnel or accepting tourists at USAP stations."
12 ways that penguins are incredible
Flightless penguins, some of which call Antarctica home, continue to captivate people.
12 ways that penguins are incredible
Big bird
King penguins (seen in the Falkland Islands) are second only to the emperor penguin in size. Adult emperor penguins typically are about 3.75 feet tall. Fossils of the largest penguin species ever discovered were unearthed in Antarctica; the species was about 6 feet 5 inches tall and lived about 40 million years ago.
Don't break it: only one egg each season
During each breeding season, king penguins (an adult is shown here with several chicks) and emperor penguins lay only one egg. King and emperor penguins also are serially monogamous. They have only one mate each year.
Stay-at-home dads
Common gender roles are reversed in emperor penguins (shown). The female goes out to hunt while the male incubates the egg. Once the egg is hatched, the male produces milk for the chick from a gland in his esophagus, National Geographic reports.
Not too far south
Penguins in the wild mostly live in the Southern Hemisphere, but some live in temperate climates, including the Galapagos penguin, which can be found near the equator. Penguins can drink salt water because their supraorbital gland filters the salt from their bloodstream.
Hey, good lookin'
With their yellow feather plumes and red bills, crested penguins (shown) arguably are the flashiest penguins. During the breeding cycle, both partners must undergo long periods of fasting, up to 40 days, Penguin World reports.
My nest is better than yours
Male Adélie penguins (shown) are nest builders. They try to attract a female by building the most impressive nest with small rocks. If they think their nest is lacking, they will steal rocks from neighbors' nests.
Givers and fast swimmers
Male gentoo penguins give pebbles to females (shown) to add to their nests. Gentoo penguins are the world’s fastest underwater birds; they can reach speeds of up to 22 miles an hour.
Waterproof coat
Penguins produce oil from a gland near their tails, which acts as a waterproof coat for their feathers.
Cooling down naturally
Humboldt penguins (shown) live along the shores of Peru and Chile. During the hottest months of the year, the penguins can beat the heat through the patches of bare, pink skin around their eyes and bills. The birds shed heat through these featherless spots.
Same time next year
Rockhopper penguins (shown) are found among the craggy, windswept shorelines of islands north of Antarctica, from Chile to New Zealand. They return to the same breeding ground, and often to the same nest, each year and usually seek out the previous year's mate, National Geographic reports.
Mating for life
African penguins (shown) mate for life. The male and female penguins share incubation duties to keep their eggs warm and safe from predators.
They own Antarctica
There are 12 million penguins living in Antarctica.
Virus by the numbers
The following charts show you how, where the coronavirus is spreading.
Associated Press writer E. Eduardo Castillo in Mexico City contributed to this report.
