Belgian scientific base in Antarctica engulfed by Covid despite strict measures
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Re: Belgian scientific base in Antarctica engulfed by Covid despite strict measures
#2> All staff members preparing to depart to the station had to undergo a PCR test in Belgium two hours before leaving for South Africa, take a PCR test five days after their arrival in Cape Town, where they also had to quarantine for ten days. Another test was required when leaving Cape Town for Antarctica and another PCR test had to be undergone five days after arrival.
This is clear evidence that the current paradigm for dealing with the pandemic is ineffective at best.
Re: Belgian scientific base in Antarctica engulfed by Covid despite strict measures
#3> All staff members preparing to depart to the station had to undergo a PCR test in Belgium two hours before leaving for South Africa, take a PCR test five days after their arrival in Cape Town, where they also had to quarantine for ten days. Another test was required when leaving Cape Town for Antarctica and another PCR test had to be undergone five days after arrival. This is clear evidence that the current paradig…
What are some realistic alternatives?
Re: Belgian scientific base in Antarctica engulfed by Covid despite strict measures
#4> All staff members preparing to depart to the station had to undergo a PCR test in Belgium two hours before leaving for South Africa, take a PCR test five days after their arrival in Cape Town, where they also had to quarantine for ten days. Another test was required when leaving Cape Town for Antarctica and another PCR test had to be undergone five days after arrival. This is clear evidence that the current paradig…
> ineffective
I don't think it's clear evidence of this, but you could definitely say it's not 100% effective. Whether it is useful is not something that you cannot determine from this story alone.
Re: Belgian scientific base in Antarctica engulfed by Covid despite strict measures
#5Interesting headline choice leading to the sentence “No severe symptoms have been reported as of yet.”
Re: Belgian scientific base in Antarctica engulfed by Covid despite strict measures
#6TIL Belgium has an Antarctic research station.
Re: Belgian scientific base in Antarctica engulfed by Covid despite strict measures
#7> All staff members preparing to depart to the station had to undergo a PCR test in Belgium two hours before leaving for South Africa, take a PCR test five days after their arrival in Cape Town, where they also had to quarantine for ten days. Another test was required when leaving Cape Town for Antarctica and another PCR test had to be undergone five days after arrival. This is clear evidence that the current paradig…
I’m not so sure; respectfully disagree. This only talks about process stricture, not efficacy or process compliance/lapse. Plausible hypothesis, but needs more data.
Re: Belgian scientific base in Antarctica engulfed by Covid despite strict measures
#8> All staff members preparing to depart to the station had to undergo a PCR test in Belgium two hours before leaving for South Africa, take a PCR test five days after their arrival in Cape Town, where they also had to quarantine for ten days. Another test was required when leaving Cape Town for Antarctica and another PCR test had to be undergone five days after arrival. This is clear evidence that the current paradig…
I’m not so sure; respectfully disagree. This only talks about process stricture, not efficacy or process compliance/lapse. Plausible hypothesis, but needs more data.
Human error/non-compliance is a thing, to be honest. Although, this can also mean the procedures do not work as well.
Re: Belgian scientific base in Antarctica engulfed by Covid despite strict measures
#9> All staff members preparing to depart to the station had to undergo a PCR test in Belgium two hours before leaving for South Africa, take a PCR test five days after their arrival in Cape Town, where they also had to quarantine for ten days. Another test was required when leaving Cape Town for Antarctica and another PCR test had to be undergone five days after arrival. This is clear evidence that the current paradig…
What are some realistic alternatives?
One would be to stop sending groups of people to that station.
Whether or not that's "realistic" is another question. It really depends on what's at stake, which is not clear yet. But the point is that governments around the world may face a very similar question in the weeks ahead.
Re: Belgian scientific base in Antarctica engulfed by Covid despite strict measures
#10Interesting headline choice leading to the sentence “No severe symptoms have been reported as of yet.”
It isn't that surprising, right? The population is 25 people, probably a slight skew toward being a little fitter than average given that it is an installation for field research, and I'd hope they are required to be vaccinated. Severe cases should be pretty rare I guess.