Tuesday, May 4, 2021 at 15:40
A man walks past a tourist shop in Reykjavik in this September 2020 file photo. Health authorities in Iceland are hoping to start loosening domestic COVID-19 restrictions by mid-May. (John Sibley/Reuters)
Iceland’s Ministry of Health is extending some domestic COVID-19 restrictions by one week, but says the country is on the right track when it comes to vaccinations and tamping down infection cases and should be able to start relaxing measures later this month.
Among the rules Iceland will be maintaining are capping group sizes to 20 people and limiting school activities.
In April, Iceland tightened up domestic COVID-19 regulations after a spate of infection clusters linked to travel detected in March.
Hallgrimskirkja, a Lutheran church in Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital city. Religious gatherings will continue to be limited to 30 people in the country, but with the infection trend decreasing, up to 100 people will be now be permitted at funerals. (Eilís Quinn/Eye on the Arctic)
With Iceland’s tougher border screening and quarantine rules appearing to have put the breaks on new variant infections, the government plans to start relaxing some domestic restrictions starting on April 15.
As of Thursday, group restrictions will go from 10 to 20 people, some recreational facilities can reopen, and social distancing in schools will go from two meters to one.
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