Some recent infections of COVID-19 are being traced back to a tourist who did not respect the 5 day quarantine rule, Vísir reports.
This was stated by Þórólfur Guðnason, the chief epidemiologist, who also announced that ten domestic infections were diagnosed yesterday, nine of which have been quarantined and related to previous infections.
It has not been possible to link the case that was found outside the quarantine to other infections, but Þórólfur hopes that it will be clarified when the sequencing is completed.
Respect the rules!
“We see that previous infections that have been diagnosed in recent days are related to some and we have seen that it is related to a person who was clearly not quarantined at the border and was diagnosed in the second screening. We are seeing this again and again that it is clear that infections are leaking in here from people who are not quarantined,” says Þórólfur in a conversation with the news agency.
He goes on to say that he does not know whether the tourist came to the country to see the volcano or when this individual arrived.
“This is a tourist who is coming here. Hopefully, we are fixing this with these new measures that will be implemented on April 1 that oblige people to go to quarantine hotels so that it is possible to better monitor people who are coming from countries where the frequency is high.”
Þórólfur also says that around 10% of tourists who come to the country now have a vaccination or antibody certificate and he expects that number to increase.
School’s back after Easter… Sorry kids!
Þórólfur is currently working on a memorandum which states that schools will reopen after the Easter break.
There has been no on-site study in primary, secondary and tertiary schools after tougher disease control measures took effect last Thursday.
Þórólfur stated: “I just hope we start to get rid of these infections that are diagnosed outside the quarantine, but it just tells us that the virus has gone beyond the limits we want it to be in, but hopefully we will be able to get over it in the next few days. This is spreading more throughout society and people may not be following the rules we have set.”
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.
Also you can get regular news from Iceland—including the latest notifications on eruptions, as soon as they happen—by signing up to our newsletter.
Buy subscriptions, t-shirts and more from our shop right here!