Iceland will join the list of countries that have lifted all of their restrictions against Covid-19 overnight from Thursday to Friday February 25, despite a still large number of cases, the government announced on Wednesday. This decision, in line with the timetable for the gradual lifting of measures against the virus set by the executive and which will come into force on Friday at midnight, concerns both internal measures and border controls.
“We are returning to normal life but the virus is still with us,” Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir said after a government meeting in Reykjavik. The leader did not rule out having to impose new measures if the situation required it – for example with the appearance of a new variant. Iceland expects to achieve collective immunity covering around 80% of the population by the second half of March, its chief epidemiologist said in a statement.
In the past 24 hours, the country of 370,000 people has recorded 2,885 additional cases, bringing the total since the start of the pandemic to more than 115,000. The country had already lifted its internal restrictions twice in the past – at the beginning of summer 2020 and then in summer 2021 – but the lifting at the borders is a first.
On Tuesday February 22, the member countries of the European Union (EU) agreed to open up more to tourists from third countries who are vaccinated against Covid-19 or cured, by adopting a recommendation which will begin to apply. apply on March 1. The non-binding recommendation, adopted by EU affairs ministers, provides that “Member States should allow non-essential travel for people vaccinated with an EU or WHO-approved vaccine, recovered people, and all people from a country on the EU list”, according to the press release from the Council of the EU (body representing the States).
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