Yellow light, green light

National Science Foundation
Office of Polar Programs
4201 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22230

Posted November 12, 2020

As people continue to arrive at the USAP stations after going through long periods of testing and quarantine, the station communities go into a 'yellow' level status to ensure the safety of everyone as COVID continues to spread in other parts of the world. During 'yellow' status, strict measures are put into place such as wearing facial coverings in all shared indoor spaces and vehicles, increased focus on personal hygiene and cleanliness, six feet of social distancing, and limiting occupancy in many indoor spaces. Antarctica continues to be COVID-free.

It's been a long month of prolonged 'yellow' level status that significantly affects the stations' operations and living conditions. McMurdo Station gets a brief 'green light' respite this weekend, which means operations return to normal, before new arrivals next week return the station to 'yellow'.