Már Kristjánsson, the chief of infectious disease at Landspítali hospital, told RÚV this morning that there were 96 domestic cases of the coronavirus recorded yesterday. Three are in intensive care with serious respiratory distress from COVID-19.
Meanwhile, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has updated its 14-day notification rate map this morning, showing Iceland once again back in the red.
Már expressed grave concerns with the increase in domestic cases, saying that the rate of new cases is almost exponential. “There is an unusually high number of young people, people born around 1970, or around or after 1980 who are admitted with us now,” he added.
Iceland lifted all mask requirements and raised the social gathering limit to 2,000 people on October 20th, with the aim of lifting all domestic pandemic restrictions in less than three weeks’ time.
However, chief epidemiologist Þórólfur Guðnason has stated that this plan may need to be reconsidered in light of the recent upswing in domestic cases. This will largely depend on the number of hospitalisations and how well staff are prepared to handle them.
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