Covid-19: Iceland lifting all restrictions on Friday

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Iceland’s Minister of Health Willum Þór Þorsson has announced following a government meeting this morning that all pandemic restrictions, both domestic and at the border, will be lifted at midnight this Friday.

The lifting of border restrictions will be total and apply to all arrivals to Iceland, whether they come from within the EEA or without.

Both he and Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir emphasized that those who experience any symptoms of Covid-19 continue to isolate themselves and stay home.

Those who may come into contact with vulnerable groups should continue to mask up, maintain social distance, and sanitize their hands. Masking up is furthermore encouraged in crowded areas, but there will no longer be a requirement to wear them.

That said, Katrín and Willum did not rule out putting restrictions in place again if the situation worsens, for example, if a new strain of the coronavirus appears.

The announcement follows several days in a row of there being over 2,000 daily cases of the coronavirus reported and increased workload at area hospitals and health clinics, with hundreds of Landspítali staff in isolation and now 59 people hospitalized with the virus.

In terms of daily numbers, there were 2,689 recorded domestic cases of the coronavirus in Iceland yesterday, with an additional 196 reported cases at the border. There are currently 59 people in hospital with the coronavirus and two in intensive care. Two hundred forty-one are in border screening quarantine, with 12,273 in isolation.

289,020 people aged five and older have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus as of February 23th, comprising 81% of this age group, or 78% of the total population. 202,818 have also received booster shots.