Iceland Is Named Europe’s Only Country With A Green COVID Rating.

Iceland has been named Europe’s only country to have a green COVID rating from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

The ECDC started producing weekly reports from the 17th December 2020 to show how both Europe and the rest of the world are battling with COVID-19. The report is based off three indicators; a 14 day notification rate, testing rate and positive test rate.

The only other area to share a green rating with Iceland are the islands of Greece whilst the mainland itself remains at an amber rating.

The domestic 14 day incidence per 100,000 inhabitants currently stands at 5.7 and the border incidence screening rate is at 5.7. Combined, Iceland’s total 14 day incidence rate is the lowest in Europe.

There has been only one confirmed new case in Iceland as of the 29th of January which was at the border however 5 people with the virus have recovered.

There are currently 14 people in Landspitali with COVID-19, none of which are in intensive care.

Many of the major countries in Europe such as France, Germany and Italy have a red COVID-19 rating with all of the member states seeing a dramatic increase to positive test rates.

The situation in Spain is looking increasingly worrying as the country reported 38,000 confirmed cases on the 29th of January however no new data has been published.

The UK, who are struggling lots with the virus, are no longer included in the data as it is neither an EU member nor an EEA member. They have published their own data stating that the country has a daily infection rate of about 28,000.

The European Commission expects to have the majority of adults vaccinated by the end of 2021 however this process could be slowed down if a new variant of the virus surfaces.

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