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For months, the hundreds of scientists and researchers who live in Antarctica have inhabited the only continent in the world without a reported case of COVID-19. But now the virus has reached even there. Three dozen people at a Chilean base have tested positive, the country's army announced Monday. On Tuesday, a regional health minister in Chile said there are 21 infections involving people aboard the Chilean navy's Sargento Aldea supply vessel. (Shannon, 12/22)

Peru passed 1 million confirmed cases of coronavirus infection Tuesday, becoming the fifth nation in Latin America to report that number as the region struggles with the pandemic’s economic and health effects. Peru, which has a population of 32 million, was quick to declare lockdown measures in March as the pandemic spread in Europe. But in spite of closing its airports for almost six months and ordering most of its residents to stay at home it has struggled to contain the virus. Officials said they had recorded 1,000,153 cases as of Tuesday evening. (Munoz and Rueda, 12/23)

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen called on people on Wednesday to keep calm after the island confirmed its first locally transmitted case of COVID-19 since April 12, as the government announced negative tests so far for the person’s contacts. Taiwan has kept the pandemic well under control thanks to early and effective prevention methods and widespread use of masks, with all new cases for more than the last 250 days being among travellers arriving on the island. (12/23)

The sudden re-emergence of Covid-19 in places with the world’s best records for handling the pandemic is sending a discouraging message to health officials: Strategies to fully snuff out the virus don’t work as a long-term solution, and even the most successful places can never let down their guard. After more than 250 days without a single locally-transmitted coronavirus infection, Taiwan reported its first case since April on Tuesday, ending what was the world’s longest virus-free streak. On the same day, Thailand saw 427 new cases, a staggering jump for a country that as recently as September had gone 100 days without a domestic infection. (Hong, 12/23)

In Peru, you can’t drive your car on Christmas. In Lebanon, you can go to a nightclub, but you can’t dance. In South Africa, roadblocks instead of beach parties will mark this year’s festive season. How many people can you share a Christmas meal with? France recommends no more than six, in Chile it’s 15, and in Brazil it’s as many as you want. Meanwhile, Italy’s mind-boggling, color-coded holiday virus rules change almost every day for the next two weeks. (12/23)

Rafaela López Juárez was determined that if she ever had another child, she would try to give birth at home with a trusted midwife, surrounded by family. Her first birth at a hospital had been a traumatic ordeal, and her perspective changed drastically afterward, when she trained to become a professional midwife. “What women want is a birth experience centered on respect and dignity,” she said. She believes that low-risk births should occur outside hospitals, in homes or in dedicated birth centers, where women can choose how they want to give birth. (Janet Jarman, 12/22)