Iceland extends bar, nightclub COVID-19 closures in capital area until September 27
Iceland has extended its closure of bars and nightclubs until September 27 in an effort to tamp down ballooning COVID-19 numbers.
The country’s Minister of Health, Svandis Svavarsdottir, approved a proposal by the country’s chief epidemiologist on Monday.
Svavarsdottir had previously ordered bars and nightclubs shut from September 18-21 after in uptick in COVID-19 numbers last week.
Contact tracing at the time revealed at least a quarter of the cases were related to nightlife venues in the Reykjavik capital area.
7 places affected
As before, the order affects businesses in Reykjavik and the nearby towns and municipalities of Mosfellsbaer, Hafnarfjordur, Gardabaer, Kopavogur, Kjosarhreppur and Seltjarnarnes.
As of Tuesday, Iceland has had 2,419 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 10 deaths since the pandemic began. Health authorities are reporting 68.4 domestic infections per 100,000 people over the last 14 days.
Write to Eilís Quinn at eilis.quinn(at)cbc.ca
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Chamber of Commerce in Canada’s Northwest Territories balks at price tag for new COVID-19 secretariat, CBC News
Finland: Finnair to end flights to five regional airports, including to Kemi, Lapland, Yle News
Denmark: Faroe Islands updates COVID-19 guidelines for travellers, Eye on the Arctic
Greenland: Greenland approves revised COVID-19 strategy, Eye on the Arctic
Iceland: Iceland relaxes COVID-19 restrictions for the arts, allows rehearsals to resume, Eye on the Arctic
Sweden: Finland, UK to remove travel restrictions on Sweden, Radio Sweden
United States: To stop coronavirus, Arctic communities took matters into their own hands. Can it last?, Blog by Mia Bennett
