In an official statement, the Prime Minister of Iceland Katrin Jakobsdottir announced that the country would open its borders to international travellers from 15 June.
All visitors coming into the country via international airports will be tested for free. The government announced that they would be able to take approximately 1 000 samples per day. These will then be analysed and results are expected to be received within five hours. Travellers who test negative will be allowed to enter the country, while those who test positive will be required to self-isolate for two weeks. People with adequate documentation that proves they have recently tested negative, will not have to undergo a test.
The cost of each test is valued at 50 000 ISK (R6 427); a task force has been allocated to ensure the process runs seamlessly and that a special area is designated for visitors from high-risk countries.
Travellers will also be required to download the contact tracing app, Rakning C-19, it will allow tourists to be contacted by officials if needed and provide more information on the spread of infections in certain parts of the country.
Currently, only Schengen passport holders are allowed in the country however they are still required to complete a 14 day isolation period when they arrive.
This testing programme will run for a fortnight before it will be re-evaluated for improvements. At this stage, the Icelandic government will possibly start charging travellers for testing.
Worldometer has recorded that out of the 1 802 confirmed cases in Iceland, 1 786 have recovered and 10 cases have resulted in death, meaning that there are currently only 6 infected patients.
