New Restrictions at Icelandic Borders

Due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in South Africa and the identification of this variant in countries outside of Africa related to travel from the continent, Iceland’s chief epidemiologist recommends that residents of Iceland avoid all unnecessary travel to certain countries in Africa. No case of the new variant has been confirmed in Iceland, according to Morgunblaðið.

Iceland participates in the travel restrictions in the EU/Schengen Area.The European Commission has recommended that flights from these countries will not be permitted to land in Europe because of this variant. More countries may be added to this list as spread is confirmed. The current list includes the following countries:

• Botswana
• Eswatini
• Lesotho
• Mozambique
• Namibia
• South Africa
• Zimbabwe

Vaccinated individuals who have spent 24 hours or longer in any of these countries in the 14 days prior to arrival in Iceland are encouraged to pay careful attention to infection control measures and to undergo PCR testing for COVID-19 five days after arrival in Iceland in addition to any testing that may have been done upon arrival. Vaccinated individuals who arrive in Iceland on or after November 26 are encouraged to undergo a PCR test upon arrival and again after 5 days, observing quarantine until a negative result is obtained from the second PCR. Unvaccinated individuals are required to quarantine and be tested per current regulation.

The full extent of the chief epidemiologist’s travel advice can be found here.