Iceland to lift all COVID-19 curbs

By: 3 years ago

People bath in the “Blue lagoon ” geothermal spa, one of the most visited attractions in Iceland in the Reykjanes peninsula, southwestern Iceland on July 5, 2014. AFP FILE PHOTO

REYKJAVIK — Iceland will this week join the list of countries that have lifted all their restrictions against Covid-19, despite still recording high numbers of cases, the government announced Wednesday.

The decision, which comes into force on Thursday night, follows the government’s timetable for the gradual lifting of measures against the virus and covers both domestic measures and border controls.

“We are returning to normal life but the virus is still with us,” Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir told reporters after a government meeting.

Jakobsdottir did not rule out the need to impose new measures in future if the situation requires it — for instance if a new variant appears.

Iceland expects 80 percent of the population to have immunity by the second half of March, its chief epidemiologist said in a statement.

In the past 24 hours, the country of 370,000 people recorded 2,885 additional cases, bringing the total since the start of the pandemic to more than 115,000.

The country has lifted its domestic restrictions twice before — first in the early summer of 2020 and then again in the summer 2021 — but the lifting of border restrictions is a first.