Update: Tourist Who Died With No COVID-19 Symptoms, Despite Testing Positive

More information has come in about the tourist who died in Húsavík yesterday, who had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Chief epidemiologist for the Directorate of Health Þórólfur Guðnason addressed the issue at a press conference today, Vísir reports. The man in question was from Australia, and was about 40 years old.

His death was very sudden, and although testing positive for the virus, did not display any symptoms of COVID-19. As such, while the novel coronavirus was in his system, Þórólfur believes it “rather unlikely” that COVID-19 was the cause of death, although an autopsy is still pending.

The man’s wife was traveling with him and has also tested positive for the virus. Authorities are now tracking what places in Iceland they visited and what countries they may have stopped in on the way here.

As it stands now, there are 220 cases of novel coronavirus in Iceland and 2,200 people in quarantine. Four have been hospitalised, of them two in intensive care, but no one has been put on a respirator.

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