COVID Roundup: Restrictions Set To Expire This Week As Nearly 500 Hospital Staff In Isolation, Daily Numbers

As both domestic restrictions and border restrictions are set to be completed lifted this week, hospitals are still facing a very difficult situation and daily numbers remain high.

We have been having some awful weather here as of late, so we’re specially grateful for our comfy traditional lopapeysa sweaters, the beautiful woolen garments which have been keeping Icelanders warm for generations. They’re available in our shop, and ours are hand-knitted right here in Iceland.

Vísir reports that some 480 hospital staff are now in isolation with the coronavirus. Hospitals were already stretched to the limit last week, when same 300 staff were in isolation. Gunnar Ágúst Beinteinsson, the director of human resources at Landspítali hospital, told reporters at that time that the hospital is expecting the next couple weeks to be particularly difficult. As the situation stands now, that shows no immediate signs of changing.

In terms of daily numbers, there were 2,393 recorded domestic cases of the coronavirus in Iceland yesterday, with an additional 102 reported cases at the border. 242 are in border screening quarantine, with 12,806 in isolation. There are currently 48 people in hospital with the coronavirus and two in intensive care.

288,150 people aged five and older have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus as of February 16th, comprising 81% of this age group, or 78% of the total population. 201,507 have also received booster shots.

Getting a booster shot is a very straightforward process, with no barcode required. More information on that can be found here. For your first and second vaccination, you can sign up here. Bear in mind that this is the last week for getting vaccinated or boostered at Laugardalshöll; after that, you will have to consult your area health clinic.

As always, be sure to abide the domestic restrictions and border regulations.

More information can be found at covid.is/data and, in Icelandic, below. Bear in mind that it may take some time for daily figures to be updated in languages other than Icelandic.