From Iceland — One New Case At The Borders

One New Case At The Borders

Published June 22, 2020

Nico Borbely
Photo by
Vísir/Einar

One newly arrived passenger tested positive for coronavirus at Keflavík International Airport on Satuday, Fréttablaðið reports. A total of 961 people were tested at the borders that day. It is unknown whether the individual’s infection was new or old, but they underwent antibody testing that can hopefully shed light on this.

It is unknown where the individual was coming from, and whether they were an Icelander returning home or a foreign tourist.

In addition to the 961 tests taken at the airport, 64 tests were taken at the Bacterial and Viral Sciences Unit of Landspitali University Hospital, none of which were positive. As of Sunday, there were currently 344 people in quarantine in Iceland, considerably fewer than the day before when there were 479 people in quarantine. These numbers are updated every other day at covid.is..

Most Often Old Infections

Usually those who have tested positive at the border have had old infections, and are therefore presumed not contagious. It was announced that one of the three people who tested positive at the border on Friday was in fact contagious. The other two were found to have viral antibodies.

It is still unknown whether this individual who tested positive at the border on Saturday is contagious. Only three have been diagnosed with active coronavirus infections since the tests at the border started on June 15th. A further six have been diagnosed on the ground, but were later found to have old infections.

The testing will be reassessed next week, as the first two weeks are considered an experimental stage.

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