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Antarctica Flight

SAFE TRAVELS A crew heads to Antarctica on September 14. MARK BAKER—AP

The United States Antarctic Program (USAP) has sent its first crew to Antarctica since May. About 100 operations and engineering staff members of the USAP arrived on the continent on September 14.

Antarctica is the only continent free of the coronavirus. The USAP crew has worked to keep it that way. Its members spent five weeks in isolation in New Zealand. They were tested several times for the virus.

The crew will wear masks for the first two weeks at McMurdo Station. That’s a research facility in Antarctica. Anyone who becomes infected will be isolated and tested. Station manager Erin Heard says, “It [was] difficult not to run up and hug friends” when the new crew arrived.