Infected Person Visited Eruption Site

Six new domestic cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Iceland yesterday, one of them outside quarantine. What worries Chief Epidemiologist Þórólfur Guðnason is that the person diagnosed who was not in quarantine visited the eruption area on the Reykjanes peninsula and traveled there with a group of people, mbl.is reports.

It is not known whether the person contracted the disease there. “It is impossible to tell – we can’t trace the origin of the infection,” Þórólfur states.

“When you see these large crowds that visit the eruption site, hiking along narrow paths, then there is every reason to worry about infections there,” he adds. “Preferably, people should postpone visiting the eruption site for a while, until we have the pandemic under control, because I think this eruption will continue, so people aren’t missing [the opportunity to see it].”

In an interview on RÚV radio news at noon, Þórólfur reiterated that people who are in quarantine are not permitted to visit the eruption site, since it is a place where many people gather.

Mbl.is reports that many travelers have been picked up at Keflavík International Airport in private cars – something that is entirely against quarantine rules.

The rules state that people in quarantine may not be picked up at the airport: “Travel directly to the quarantine station after arriving at the border stop, by airbus, taxi, rental car, or a private vehicle that has been left for you at the airport.” 

For further guidelines, see here.