This week’s episode is an update that details how Iceland has successfully flattened the COVID-19 curve. On April 1st, I published a podcast episode that detailed the steps Iceland took after authorities found out about the virus in late December. I walked you through all of the restrictions put in place, but the timeline for those updates ended in mid-March. If you haven’t already, I recommend checking that out.
Keep Up With Icelandic News
This episode is a continuation of that timeline and will provide insight on what has been happening in the country up until present day. I am recording this on May 27th, so keep in mind that any major news regarding the virus that happened after that date will be shared on my Instagram account @allthingsiceland. In fact, I do a weekly round-up of the news each Sunday in my stories, so join me there to keep up on interesting news happening within the country. If you prefer Facebook, you can follow along there as well. Just look for All Things Iceland or click the link in my show notes to be taken directly to my page.
Not surprisingly, a lot has happened in Iceland from mid-March to May regarding COVID-19. I find it interesting to look back on it and share it with you. Hopefully, you find it interesting too.
I’ve set this up in chronological order, and will provide an overview starting from where I left off in my previous Coronavirus podcast episode. If you want to read any of the articles that I referenced as I did research for this episode, check out the show notes below.
Ok, let’s jump into it.
It was obvious that the cases of COVID-19 in Iceland were continuing to rise. Up until mid-March, travelers from all over were allowed to enter the country without going into quarantine. However, residents of Iceland coming from high risk countries, like China or Italy, were mandated to be in quarantine for 14-days. The argument behind this is that travelers don’t normally come into close contact with locals, so the risk of infection is low. I found that to be bizarre and didn’t agree with it because visitors would need to go to the same markets as residents, especially since restaurants had been shut down due to the ban on gatherings. Also, if a visitor were to fall ill, they would definitely come in contact with residents.
First COVID-19 Death in Iceland Was a Tourist
Well, on March 17th, an Australian man in his 30s (36 years old) died while visiting North Iceland. Even though his symptoms were not typical of a person with COVD-19, he tested positive for the virus and so did his wife. It was sad and unfortunate that this happened. One consequence was that twenty two people who worked at the Húsavík health clinic that came in contact with him, had to be put in quarantine. The clinic had to scale back its operations after this because of being short staffed. This was the first Coronavirus related death in the country. I think it is worth mentioning that the response from Icelanders was really sweet. A Facebook group was started to send condol...
