Hoping to Stop the Spread of British Coronavirus Variant in Iceland

Chief Epidemiologist Þórólfur Guðnason.

Chief Epidemiologist Þórólfur Guðnason. mbl.is/Eggert Jóhannesson

Vala Hafstað

Two domestic cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Iceland yesterday, mbl.is reports. The individuals diagnosed were not in quarantine. Both cases are connected to one of the domestic cases confirmed over the weekend.

The two cases confirmed over the weekend were of the British variant, which is more contagious than most variants of the coronavirus. The two people diagnosed over the weekend shared a stairwell in an apartment building with an infected individual who recently came to Iceland.

Health authorities worried over the weekend that due to one of those cases, people at Landspítali National University Hospital and guests at Friday night’s piano concert at Harpa Concert Hall might have become infected. The reason is that one of the individuals diagnosed over the weekend works at Landspítali and attended the concert, where about 800 guests were present. As a result, an outpatient clinic at Landspítali was temporarily closed, and concert guests were called in for testing.

When asked why the people diagnosed yesterday had not been in quarantine since they were connected to the previous case, Þórólfur responds, “For some reason, [the connection] was not disclosed to the tracing team. We are dependent on the information people give us. It was not revealed there, which shows how little it takes and how sensitive the situation is.”

No guests who attended Friday night’s concert have tested positive yet, but since the incubation period of COVID-19, that is, the time between exposure and symptom onset, is several days, Þórólfur notes that the concert guests will be called in later for a second test.

“We want to call the people who were at Harpa [Concert Hall] in for another test on Thursday,” Þórólfur states. “We are also asking individuals at Harpa and at Landspítali, who have been exposed [to the virus] to be extra careful and cautious. If people note any symptoms, they must keep to themselves.”

Þórólfur admits that the cases confirmed outside quarantine are reason for worry, but he adds it would have been worse had there not been any connection to other cases. “We’re doing all we can to prevent this from spreading – through screening, tracing, and such. Hopefully, we’ll succeed in stopping this, but the worry is there, because this appears to be highly contagious.”

The results of sequence analysis are being awaited to confirm whether yesterday’s cases are indeed of the British variant. 

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