Passengers arriving in Iceland from June 15 will be able to choose whether they want to be tested for Coronavirus or to quarantine for two weeks, Iceland’s government has announced.
For the two first weeks, those who choose to take the test will not be charged, whereas from July 1 passenger will need to pay ISK 15,000 for a single test. Children born in 2005 or later will not need to test or go through the quarantine, .
According to the Chief Epidemiologist, testing will be available at Keflavik airport and in Seydisfjordur for passengers arriving in Smyril Line, for persons who opt to test on arrival in Iceland.
Persons who arrive in other international airports such as Reykjavik, Akureyri, Egilsstadir or ports can be tested at the closest local healthcare centre.
Upon their arrival, travellers will be required to fill out a pre-registration form adhere to rules regarding infection control and are advised to download the tracing app, Raking C-19. Through the pre-registration process, passengers’ testing will be facilitated and will shorten their wait time.
“The intention is to safeguard the progress we have made so far when travellers start returning to Iceland. Throughout the pandemic, we have aimed for moderate but targeted measures based on the best available information. Primary schools have remained open and no lockdowns have been imposed. Now that there are almost no cases in Iceland, we see this as a normal next step as the world is slowly opening up to travel again,” Chief Epidemiologist Thorolfur Gudnason pointed out.
The testing process will be made by the Icelandic company- deCode genetic in collaboration with the National University Hospital of Iceland.
Police officers will test all passengers as part of countries efforts to stop the spread of Coronavirus pandemic.
All persons who test positive will be required to self-isolate in case they have an active infection.
Last month, Iceland’s Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir presented some of the changes which have been applied to the travel restrictions, as part of country’s plan to relax some of its precautionary measures that have been imposed to halt the spread of COVID-19.
According to Iceland’s Prime Minister, internationals who aren’t part of the Schengen Zone are ineligible to visit Iceland at least until July 1, but Schengen Zone citizens must go through a mandatory quarantine or take the test in order to be eligible to enter Iceland.
In April, the government of Iceland decided to establish the temporary internal frontier checks, following the example of Schengen Zone countries that had put them in place much earlier, as a precautionary measure in the fight against the deadly virus.