Currently Iceland requires 14 day quarantine for everyone arriving into the country. This requirement will be relaxed, with tourists being welcomed back with conditions, in three stages.
- Starting May 15 visitors from Greenland and the Faroe Islands can visit without going into quarantine.
- Starting May 25 visitors from the Schengen Area of Europe can visit, making a choice of a 2 week quarantine, getting tested for COVID-19 on arrival, or presenting “a clean bill of health from the health authorities in their home countries.”
- Starting June 15 visitors from the rest of the world are expected to be able to visit following one of these three protocols.
Under the scheme, once the traveller has submitted their test sample, they would be allowed to proceed to their hotel or home. If their test result available later that day is positive, they will be quarantined for at least 14 days.
Ion Luxury Adventure Hotel, Iceland
Visitors to Iceland “will also be asked to install the Rakning C-19 contagion tracing app” on their mobile devices. Iceland believes they’ll have sufficient testing in place for their new airport protocols in time, and may eventually extend them to other entry ports. The country has tested approximately 13% of its population, over four times the rate as in the U.S. (though of course a much smaller base).
Iceland has largely beaten coronavirus. Only three cases have been confirmed in the country so far this month. They are opening up its economy (swimming pools will open Monday, gyms on May 25) and is lifting their limit on public gatherings from 50 people to 100 on May 25 as well.
Good news though you’ll be able to visit Skúli Mogensen’s former home soon.
We have a trip planned there on Icelandair from MSP on June 20. Think this route will be operational by then? And I am assuming the Covid test at the airport is bloodwork, not the dreaded nose/throat swab? (Have not canceled this trip, as I did others later in the summer, because this is my Birthday Bucket List trip.)
We can nitpick at any plan and for those that are still not comfortable traveling, we can pick apart any plan.
But for a country dependent on tourism and which has done a good job controlling COVID, this is a well thought out plan to try and get international tourism restarted.
I would expect some bumps, but if there is no great wave that ensues, I would hope other countries employ something similar.
If they throw in a reliable antibody test it might be worth making the trip just for the testing. On the downside, if you do get quarantined for 14 days in Iceland the bill would be around $700,000.
@Pete
I suspect spain, greece, Italy, Israel and others that are so Dependent on tourism are watching this closely
I am sure it will be succesful and open the doors slowly to more countries
@bzv, there is no blood test for active covid infections that I know of. The test will almost certainly be the swab test
Wonder what counts as a clean bill of health
@Pete – A sensible perspective.
I went to Iceland once. Neat place.
I was not a fan of $10 beers, even from the supermarket. Unbelievably expensive.
Be sure you’re following Icelandic news sources rather than general blogs. I see info here that wasn’t specifically stated by their government. May 25th is only a possibility, not a guarantee, and they haven’t yet specified if there will be restrictions on where people can travel from. They’re still figuring a lot of it out. Right now it’s in the idea/planning stages so a lot can change. Always double check info like this straight from the source for accuracy.
I had a trip to Iceland (on Delta) booked for late May. Obviously I had to cancel and got a full refund. I will be watching this closely, could be a chance to visit at some point this summer before the masses of tourists return, and it will be much safer to be there than in the U.S. However, one thing to watch for is what rules will apply for the U.S. in letting people back in.