Iceland reported 21 new domestic COVID-19 cases over the weekend. Among those infected are 10 crew members of a cargo ship that has docked in Reyðarfjörður, East Iceland. Five to six of the remaining cases were not in quarantine at the time of diagnosis. Már Kristjánsson, Head of the Infectious Diseases Ward at the National University Hospital, told RÚV it was too early to say whether a fourth wave of infection had begun in the country but the cases were “a matter of grave concern.”
Már stated that the viral samples from the infected individuals had yet to be sequenced so it was not known what variant of the virus was responsible for the cases. Whether the cases mark the beginning of a new wave of infection “depends a bit on the progression today and tomorrow. A great lot of people are going into quarantine and testing. It will become clear in the next day or two.”
One of those infected is a teacher at Laugarnesskóli in Reykjavík. Four of the school’s staff members and around 80 students have been sent to testing and are in quarantine until results are available. Members of the football teams Stjarnan and Fylkir are also in quarantine in connection with one of the cases.
Health authorities will hold an information briefing about the outbreak today at 11.00am UTC. Iceland Review will live-tweet the briefing at this link.
