Reykjavík Quarantine Housing Closes

As of May 18th, Reykjavik’s designated quarantine housing on Rauðarárstígur has been closed, Vísir reports. The last patients were discharged last Wednesday, and given that the rate of infection has decreased greatly in the last weeks, it is no longer considered necessary to keep the building open.

The state commissioned the building at the end of February, which was previously Fosshótel Lind. Both tourists and residents in quarantine or self-isolation stayed there.

About 50 people stayed in the house in total, most of them Icelanders. Around 40 volunteers from the Icelandic Red Cross came to take charge of the operation.

The supervisor of the house, Gylfi Þór Þorsteinsson, stated in an interview with Morgunblaðið that the operation had gone well. Better, indeed, than had been hoped for.

“The best part is that no one that was working here got sick,” says Gylfi, who is ready and waiting to open the quarantine house again if the need arises.

He thinks it unlikely that the house should need to open again due to the reopening of Iceland’s national borders, and states that he is not particularly concerned.

“Those who come to Iceland have undoubtedly already planned out their lodging,” says Gylfi.