A new regulation by the Minister of Health on quarantine and isolation and COVID-19 testing at the Icelandic border will take effect on Tuesday 27 April. The regulation introduces obligation for arriving passengers to stay in a quarantine facility if they come from countries with high infection rate of COVID-19 as defined by the regulation. The Icelandic authorities will regularly issue a list of high-risk countries, which will be updated as needed.

The Government of Iceland has announced temporary border measures to counter the domestic spread of COVID-19. These measures aim to create conditions to allow lifting domestic restrictions as much as possible. The vaccination programme in Iceland is continuing at pace, and as more people become vaccinated, conditions for easing restrictions will become more favourable, both within society and at the border.

Clearer requirements are made for home quarantine, regarding housing and rules of conduct. Those who are unable to stay in a home quarantine that fulfils the requirements will need to stay at a quarantine facility. However, no fee shall be collected for the stay.

The Minister of Justice of Iceland has decided that the previously announced decision to exempt from travel restrictions those who can provide proof of vaccination or prior infection will take effect on 6 April. The change in regulation will allow travellers from non-Schengen countries, who meet the criteria, to travel to Iceland for non-essential reasons.

Icelandic authorities have announced a stricter regime of measures against the COVID-19 pandemic that takes effect throughout Iceland as from midnight tonight, Wednesday 24 March 2021. Most gatherings will be limited to 10 people, not counting children born in or after 2015. Junior schools (age 6 to 16), music schools, senior schools and universities will be closed until the beginning of the Easter holidays.

Iceland’s Minister of Health has decided to impose stricter border measures at the recommendation of the Chief Epidemiologist. Changes will take effect on 1 April and will affect children and those traveling from areas that are classified as dark red or grey by the ECDC (where the 14-day incidence rate exceeds 500 or insufficient data is available).

Iceland has not required those with immunity to undergo border measures. From 18 March this exemption will apply to citizens outside the Schengen area, including the UK and USA.

New border measures will come into force on February 19 which requires all arriving passengers in Iceland to present a negative PCR taken within 72 hours of their time of departure to Iceland. This is in addition to the current system of double screening, that also requires all arriving passengers to submit to a PCR test upon arrival, followed by a 5-day quarantine and a second PCR test.

Departures of international passengers* from Iceland via Keflavik Airport were close to 480 thousand in 2020 or roughly 1,5 million fewer than 2019, according to figures from the Icelandic Tourist Board and Isavia. The annual decrease is 75.9%. We need to go back 10 years to see similar figures in departures of international passengers.

As of today, all passengers must undergo a PCR test upon arrival in Iceland, followed by a 5–6-day quarantine and a second screening at the end of quarantine period. This procedure will remain in place until 1 May, when cautious steps will be taken to ease restrictions, based on the epidemiological situation at passenger's point of departure. This was decided at today's cabinet meeting.