Life is almost back to normal in Iceland, our columnist writes, after swift and decisive government action. Now that we appear to be over the worst of the pandemic, like a lot of Icelanders, I have asked myself: What is important in life?
The curfews on gatherings and the social distancing mandates have been lifted; gyms, swimming pools and restaurants are reopening. Icelanders are traveling around the island again. Iceland will open its airports to tourism on June 15, and the people of Iceland are waiting to welcome those who are ready to travel. If visitors agree to be tested for coronavirus, they can avoid the two-week quarantine that many countries have instituted.
While the question of whether the public should wear masks in public has been the subject of heated debate in the U.S., the public here has not been required to wear masks in public. The message has at least been simpler, and more consistent, than the changing policy in the U.S. The combination of early testing and contact tracing flattened the curve after exponential growth in the very early days of the pandemic.
“We opened up a screening center and offered to anyone in Iceland who would want to be screened to come and be screened,” Stefansson told U.S. News and World Report, “and then we did a random sample of the population.” I recently traveled around the island, the country of my birth. At one of my stops, I chatted with the owner of a roadside stop for an hour. His name is Ómar and he’s a 60-something farmer-turned-entrepreneur who owns a piece of land that must be entered to see the magnificent mountain Vestrahorn.
Since protests took off in the U.S. after the murder of George Floyd and the disproportionate impact of the coronavirus on people of color, Iceland — a country that has up until very recently been almost homogenous — has taken a strong position against the systemic racism in the U.S. People in New York, and most of America, say what they mean, Icelanders don’t, they beat around the bush, speak in half-rhymed-verses and don’t confront things head on. It’s an anti-confrontational culture.
There was not an official “lockdown” as there was in other countries, including Italy and Ireland, but the Icelandic government did take swift action. At first, we were concerned about a decline in visitors from China. That turned into fear that Chinese tourists would bring coronavirus here. As soon as the virus was detected, everyone this individual had come into contact with was quarantined, including his entire workplace, his family, his friends and those he had traveled with. Soon thousands of people were quarantined, and the number of confirmed cases started mounting.
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