Mayor Of Reykjavík Diagnosed With Coronavirus

Mayor of Rekjyavík Dagur B. Eggertsson has announced on Facebook that he has tested positive for the coronavirus.

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.

“Just received confirmation (PCR) that I have COVID,” he writes. “Not surprising. The last of six family members who’ve caught it since January. Woke up feeling under the weather on Saturday and got tested. I’ve been in isolation and coughed my way through the weekend and the day’s meeting–which was not possible to postpone.”

He expresses disappointment at not being able to meet and talk to residents at his old neighbourhood, Árbær, but is hopeful to be out of isolation by Friday, when there will be an open meeting at Árbæjarskóli primary school.

“Be careful and take care of yourselves,” he says in closing. “And watch out for the stormy weather tonight, which can bring with it icy conditions and rising waters.”

Dagur is not the first elected official to test positive for the coronavirus. It has also struck several government ministers, including Minister for the Environment, Energy and Climate Affairs Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson; Minister of Finance Bjarni Benediktsson; Minister of Innovation, Industry and Universities Áslaug Arna Sigurbjörnsdóttir; Foreign Minister Þórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörð Gylfadóttir; and Minister of Education and Children’s Affairs Ásmundur Einar Daðason, all of them having contracted the virus at some point since last December.

Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir had a close call herself earlier this month, when she was asked to go into “special precaution” over potential exposure to the virus.