Iceland introduces restrictions after UK variant is detected

Iceland’s government has ordered schools closed and halted public gatherings after detecting six coronavirus cases believed to be the variant first found in Britain

Iceland Volcano

(Marco Di Marco)

Gym classes, happy hours and the near-normal life enjoyed so far by the people of Iceland ended abruptly on Thursday, when the government ordered new restrictions after detecting six coronavirus cases believed to be the variant first found in Britain.

Authorities ordered all schools closed, as well as gyms, pools, theaters, cinemas and bars. Restaurants shops and hairdressers can remain open in a limited capacity. Gatherings of more than 10 people will be banned for three weeks.

“We need to hit the brake,” Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir said Thursday.

Iceland has had just 5,384 cases and 29 deaths from COVID-19, according to official figures. But in the past week, six people were infected with the British variant, which authorities say is more transmissible.

“This variant seems to spread faster among children than we have previously experienced,” the prime minister added, referring to recent reported cases in schools in the capital Reykjavík. A student and a teacher at a Reykjavik school were among the six people diagnosed with the British variant.

A study published in Norway this week by the National Institute of Public Health suggested that people infected with the U.K. variant are 2.6 times more likely to be hospitalized. The study also suggested that young people and adults under 40 are more vulnerable to the variant.

The government expects students to stay home past the Easter holidays.

Iceland had kept schools open for children under 16 since the start of the pandemic.

Tighter virus restrictions were the second big event to rock the Atlantic Ocean island nation in the last week. A long-dormant volcano in southwestern Iceland flared to life on March 19 on Reykjanes Peninsula, near the capital of Reykjavik. It was the area’s first volcanic eruption in nearly 800 years.

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