Active Cases in Every Part of Iceland

From the press conference.

From the press conference. mbl.is/Kristinn Magnússon

Vala Hafstað

Four new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Iceland yesterday, bringing the total number of active cases to 97. People in quarantine number 795. No one is hospitalized with the disease. The figures were updated at 11 am on covid.is.

While most of the active cases, or 70, are in the capital area, there are presently active cases in every part of the country. 

At a press conference yesterday, Chief Epidemiologist Þórólfur Guðnason stated that the development of the second wave of the pandemic in Iceland right now resembles what it was like during the first wave in early March.

It concerns him that the incidence of the disease continues to rise in Iceland, and he finds it likely that Iceland will be listed as ‘red’ by some European nations, making traveling abroad for Icelanders complicated.

The latest figures on covid.is show the incidence of domestic infections in Iceland standing at 22.4. The figure measures the 14-day incidence per 100,000 inhabitants.

Þórólfur is concerned about the fact the that  the pandemic has spread to every part of the country. The case confirmed Tuesday in East Iceland – the first one in East Iceland in a long time - involves the same variant of SARS-CoV-2 (the coronavirus that causes COVID-19) as do other recently confirmed cases around the country. It remains a mystery how that variant of the virus spread to Iceland.

People infected with the virus oftentimes have mild or no symptoms, making the infections difficult to trace, Þórólfur stated.

He stressed how important it is for people to do their share of disease prevention. Besides, he noted that screening for the disease domestically is important. Finally, he suggested that procedures at the border may have to be changed.   

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