Travellers from Denmark, Norway, Finland and Germany visiting Iceland starting from Thursday, July 16, will no longer be obliged to go through screening procedures and quarantine requirements upon arrival, the Icelandic government has announced.
The decision has been taken by Iceland’s chief epidemiologist, after evaluating that the epidemiological situation in these four countries and travellers coming from their territories no longer pose high risks of spreading the infections.
“Our decision to allow travellers from these four countries to enter without unduly burdensome precautions is the result of analysing our own data and the data available to us from these countries, all of which have very low instances of community spread,” chief epidemiologist Thorolfur Gudnason regarding the decision.
The government explains in a press release that these travellers must meet one condition in order to be exempted from quarantine and screening requirements, which is they must not have visited a country/region that is classified as high-risk in the 14 days prior to arrival in Iceland.
Whereas the Minister of Tourism Thordis Kolbrun R Gylfadóttir points out that arrivals from Denmark, Norway, Finland and Germany represent almost half of the inbound flights to Iceland.
“This decision is in line with other measures we have taken, namely targeted, high-impact measures based on the best available science, data, and medical judgement,” he says hoping that Iceland can soon invite travellers from other countries to enter without border screening.
At the same time, exemption from quarantine and screening procedures for those born in 2005 and later will remain effective.
Last week, Iceland’s government decided that Iceland’s citizens and residents, who choose to be tested upon arrival in Iceland four to five days after arrival.
The government has also decided to open borders for residents of 14 third countries considered safe by the European Union, as of July 15.
Since Iceland opened its borders for tourists on June 15, 36,738 visitors have been tested upon arrival, as an alternative to the 14-day quarantine.
Only 12 of the 84 positive samples have resulted contagious, and another 71 had antibodies.