‘No continent is immune, including Antarctica’, but National Antarctic Programmes acted collectively to avert disaster

Risk assessments and outbreak management required National Antarctic Programmes to make difficult decisions for the 2020/2021 season, which included significantly reducing the number of people deploying, emplacing quarantine and testing regimes at the gateways and implementing strict isolation protocols during travel. Medical advice was provided by the Joint Expert Group on Human Biology & Medicine led by Dr Anne Hicks of the British Antarctic Survey Medical Unit, which had experience from its 2009 pandemic management workshop that focused on prevention and response to a possible influenza outbreak in Antarctica. Through the leadership of the Secretariat, COMNAP continues to review and regularly update the ‘COVID-19 Outbreak Prevention & Management Guidelines’ to strengthen national efforts to prevent the introduction of the virus to Antarctica.