70 Percent of Icelanders May Have Caught COVID-19

Chief Epidemiologist Þórólfur Guðnason.

Chief Epidemiologist Þórólfur Guðnason. Photo/mbl.is/Eggert Jóhannesson

Vala Hafstað

About 130,000 people in Iceland have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic first hit, mbl.is reports, quoting a statement posted yesterday by Chief Epidemiologist Þórólfur Guðnason on covid.is. It has been estimated that roughly another 130,000 have been infected without being diagnosed. Therefore, up to 70 percent of Icelanders may already have been infected with COVID-19, and the pandemic could possibly reach a peak within two to three weeks, Þórólfur writes. (The population of Iceland is about 368,000).

All COVID-19 restrictions in Iceland were lifted February 25 — domestically as well as at the border — and since then, fewer COVID test have been done on a daily basis. The disease is still widespread in society, causing a major strain on the healthcare system, including nursing homes.

About ten people are hospitalized every day at Landspítali National University Hospital, due to COVID-19. At present, 62 COVID-19 patients are in the hospital in Iceland — 55 at Landspítali  and seven at Akureyri Hospital. A total of four patients are currently on ventilators in the country.

“COVID-19 is, therefore, still causing serious illness, although the illness is proportionally not as common as during earlier waves of the pandemic,” Þórólfur writes. “Widespread illness among healthcare workers has disrupted the operation of healthcare centers in a major way, which is why Landspítali operates at an emergency level.

Þórólfur encourages everyone to continue observing individual disease prevention methods to slow the spread of COVID-19 and thereby prevent too much strain on the healthcare system.

For the latest COVID-19 figures, go to covid.is.

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