Antarctica: the final coronavirus-free frontier. But will it stay that way?

In February, as the coronavirus situation in China worsened and other parts of the world saw their first outbreaks, residents at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station were prepping for a run-of-the-mill end to summer – settling in for six months without the sun – and enjoying the traditional screening of the Antarctica-based horror film “The Thing.”

Three months later, Antarctica remains the only continent free of COVID-19. That comes despite some close calls, including a cruise ship that had been en route before 60% of the people on board tested positive in early April. As a result, the region is no longer just a desolate frontier of 5,000 people (even during warmer months), and where one might encounter crevasses wide enough to swallow a car or 200-mile-per-hour winds; it is also an island of safety as the coronavirus-related global death toll is poised to top 300,000. And, with the recent change in season further restricting Antarctica’s connections to the outside world, it might stay that way.

The consequences of infection could have been particularly severe. The people dispersed in facilities across an area nearly half the size of Africa tend to live in cramped quarters, and even if respirators are available, medical staff are limited. Dozens of research stations host the continent’s shifting population, operated by a diverse group of countries. The US’s McMurdo Station, the largest, can accommodate as many as 1,200 people during the summer. In addition to scientific research, it houses participants in an Artists and Writers Program that’s generated an Oscar-nominated Werner Herzog documentary and a “forensic geology mystery novel.”

Antarctica hasn’t been completely spared from the impact of COVID-19. The pandemic-related cancellation of scientific operations and intra-station activities, like basketball tournaments, has created an existence described as “isolated within isolation.” And, the region’s appeal for tourists now seems less certain. The total number of visitors to the continent increased by 53% between the 2015-2016 and 2018-2019 seasons, to 56,168. Those tourists specifically visiting by sea with excursions ashore rose by 61%, according to the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators.

To be sure, the increased tourism has added to environmental concerns about the region. And while global tourism may have mostly ground to a halt for now, the cruise industry continues to promote trips to Antarctica.

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