Following yesterday’s tragic announcement that Iceland had sustained its first suspected COVID-19 fatality, a Facebook page has been created to express support for the victim’s widow.
The victim, an Australian man in his 40s, died in Húsavík on Monday. Although he tested positive for COVID-19, the man did not display typical symptoms. The Infectiologist of Iceland, Þórólfur Guðnason, expressed uncertainty over whether coronavirus was responsible for the man’s death in a press report yesterday as reported by Visir. Officials are now working to locate people the couple may have come in contact with and the man’s widow has been put in quarantine.
Almost 4,000 people have joined the ‘With Love From Us’ Facebook page to express their condolences to the quarantined widow at the time of writing. Whilst the widow may be physically alone, Icelanders are keen to show that their thoughts are with her in this painful time. One can only begin to imagine the immense difficulty of grieving a loved one whilst isolated in a country far away from home and infected with a potentially deadly virus, but hopefully this show of support will come as some small comfort.
As Stundin reports, the Facebook page was inspired by discussions between members of a closed group on the platform, Góða systir, or in English, ‘Good Sister.’ Member of the Good Sister group, Rakel Jónsdóttir, is admin for the With Love From Us page and wrote the first post:
“You are far far away from home, and your loss is unimaginable.
You may not see us, you may not know us, but we all think of you and have you in our hearts.
We feel for you and wanted to let you know that you are not alone here in our frozen land of volcanoes and earthquakes.
Our deepest condolences, and may our most healing proverb be yours: “Megi allar góðar vættir vaka yfir þér”
“May all the good beeings in this and other worlds watch over you.”
As the COVID-19 outbreak worsens, we can only hope that Icelanders will continue to show such compassion and human decency towards those most affected by the crisis.
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