From Iceland — Minister Of Education Quarantined, Parliament Sanitised

Minister Of Education Quarantined, Parliament Sanitised

Published June 30, 2020

Sam O'Donnell
Photo by
Screenshot/RÚV

Minister of Education Lilja Alfreðsdóttir will be quarantined for the next two weeks. She reported on her Facebook page on June 29th that she had been in close contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19.

She and her husband were screened at Icelandic Genetic Analysis. Her husband tested positive, but she tested negative. Nevertheless, she will quarantine. “This position is an important incentive for all of us to be careful in this epidemic,” she said in a statement. “We all want to continue to enjoy the freedom that the beautiful Icelandic summer has to offer.”

When reports were received on June 29th, a parliamentary meeting was interrupted. Parliamentary President Steingrímur J. Sigfússon then met with the chairpersons of all parliamentary parties to discuss the matter. The secretary general of Parliament contacted Civic Protection, and the assembly hall was disinfected.

The COVID-19 epidemic has re-emerged in recent days. A 50-person group from the Garðabær Trade School is now in quarantine after the group leader was diagnosed with the virus. As ever, the public is encouraged to wash and sanitise their hands, and observe a social distance of two meters whenever possible.

As ever, those looking for more information or advice should go to the Icelandic Government’s excellent COVID-19 help page.

Note: Due to the effect the Coronavirus is having on tourism in Iceland, it’s become increasingly difficult for the Grapevine to survive. If you enjoy our content and want to help the Grapevine’s journalists do things like eat and pay rent, please consider joining our High Five Club.

You can also check out our shop, loaded with books, apparel and other cool merch, that you can buy and have delivered right to your door

Support The Reykjavík Grapevine!
Buy subscriptions, t-shirts and more from our shop right here!

Show Me More!