Arriving Tourists to Be Placed in Quarantine in Iceland

Beginning Friday, anyone arriving in Iceland will be required to spend 14 days in quarantine, mbl.is reports.

Minister of Health Svandís Svavarsdóttir issued a directive to that effect today. The new rule will be in effect through May 14.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, only Icelanders and other residents of Iceland have been required to go into quarantine upon arrival in the country, but as of Friday, the few tourists who still arrive here, will no longer be exempt from the rule.

For the new rule to be complied with, Schengen border controls must be in place in Iceland, but those have not been needed in Iceland since the country joined the passport-free zone of 26 European countries and became a Schengen member in 1995.

Passenger transportation companies will be required to fill out a so-called Public Health Passenger Locator, or its equivalent – forms that passengers must present at border controls. Upon arrival in the country, passengers must provide information regarding where they will stay in quarantine and under what conditions.

The number of active COVID-19 cases has been gradually declining in Iceland in recent weeks and only a few new cases are confirmed every day. The new rule is intended to protect the population from new transmissions from abroad. 

For more information regarding what home-based quarantine involves, see here and for guidelines, see here.