Iceland to Ban Non-Essential Travel From High-Risk Countries
All travellers from countries in which the incidence of infection surpasses 700 per 100,000 population will be banned from entering Iceland’s territory, Iceland’s Ministry of Justice has announced.
The decision comes after a new regulation issued by Iceland’s Minister of Justice, Áslaug Arna Sigurbjörnsdóttir, which bans unnecessary travel from specific risk territories due to the Coronavirus pandemic situation, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.
Internationals who have stayed for more than 24 hours in the past 14 days in any of the countries considered profoundly affected by the Coronavirus disease will not be permitted to enter Iceland, until May 31, in order to contain the further spread of the Coronavirus disease.
“The ban does not apply to foreigners who have permanent residence in this country, based on a residence permit or other type of right of residence, relatives of Icelandic citizens and foreigners residing in this country,” the statement reads.
Internationals who are in a relationship for a long time, with an Icelandic citizen or an international who is residing in the country legally, will also be permitted to enter Iceland, as well as internationals who obtain a Digital Green Passport or those who prove that they have fully recovered from the deadly disease.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Iceland has continuously kept the COVID-19 situation under control, compared to many other European countries. It has reported 6,447 cases of infections, as yet, and 29 deaths.
Based on the statistics published by Worldometers, 6,240 persons have fully recovered from the disease, while there are 178 active cases.
The Ministry of Justice has also announced that the decision will not affect:
- Passengers on connecting flights.
- Persons engaged in health care services.
- Persons transporting goods and other services.
- Persons in need of international protection.
- Persons who have any emergency cases.
- Students.
Last week, authorities in Iceland announced that they would tighten their border controls in a bid to prevent an upsurge in the number of infections and protect the health of their citizens.
Even though Iceland’s government has decided to ban entry for travellers from countries with high rates of COVID-19 infections, last week, local authorities in Iceland revealed that a total of 4,800 tourists entered the country from April 1 until April 15.
These figures revealed that 1,106 travellers entered the country holding a COVID-19 travel document, which confirms that they were either fully vaccinated or fully recovered from the virus.
