Iceland gets an “orange” Covid-19 classification – for now
Being on the orange list brings some restrictions, but not as many as being red listed.
[This story was updated on August 5th when a reference to the UK travel rules was removed as the UK does not use the ECDC system to classify countries based on Covid-19 status]
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has labelled Iceland as “orange” in its latest report of the global Covid-19 epidemiological situation. Mbl.is reported Wednesday that Iceland could be classified as “red” in light of the recent increase in the Covid-19 notification rate which passed the 200 per 100.000 population mark this week. But as the ECDC bases is classification on a two week average Iceland was marked orange instead.
The orange classification means that Icelanders travelling abroad and visitors returning to their home countries from a trip to Iceland will face fewer restrictions than they would have had Iceland been put on the red list.
For instance France requires that those entering the country from an orange destination either show proof of being fully vaccinated, or otherwise travel only for essential reasons and quarantine for 7 days on arrival.
Denmark requires travellers from an orange country or region, if unvaccinated or unable to show proof of having previously been infected with Covid-19, to isolate after entry and only travel to Denmark for essential reasons while fully vaccinated travellers do not have to isolate nor get tested for the virus and can visit Denmark for any reason.
The ECDC updates its report every Thursday and it remains to be seen if Iceland will be red listed next week. ai@mbl.is
