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While many countries block the nation to fight Covid-19, Iceland adopts a different anti-nCoV strategy, based on evidence and phone directories.
Iceland, an isolated island with a population of approximately 364,000, confirmed the first case of nCoV on February 28, when a citizen returned from Italy and tested positive for the virus. Since then, Iceland has started a new war, with weapons that are not a blockade, but an nCoV test device.
Primary schools and kindergartens in Iceland are still open, many restaurants still operate despite the limited number of customers. Visitors can still enter the country without isolation. Officials initially limited themselves to gathering more than 100 people, but long after other countries breached the community, the rule was lowered to 20.
Despite this, Iceland has received many compliments and is frequently mentioned for its testing strategy for as many people as possible at risk of nCoV infection. Instead of screening for high-risk individuals like other countries, the country allows for massive testing and quickly quarantines Covid-19 positive individuals.
Students play basketball during a break at a school in Iceland’s capital Reykjavik. Photos: NYTimes.
The tests were performed by the National University Hospital of Iceland and the pharmaceutical company deCode Genetics, based in the capital Reykjavík, on people with and without symptoms of nCoV. As of April 8, the country had analyzed at least 30,000 biological samples and had detected at least 1,600 positive cases, of which only 6 had died.
Dr. Kari Stefansson, CEO of deCode Genetics in Reykjavík, said Icelandic officials conduct random tests for people for Choose from a national phone bookLarge-scale testing strategies have never been applied anywhere else in the world.
To date, Iceland has one of the highest test rates in the world, about 10% of the population, according to government officials. They also tracked different sources of infection, tracked contact history, and even studied different viral strains.
Stefansson said that large-scale detection could help “slow the spread of viruses, thereby helping to control social infections.” Asymptomatic testing is considered by the company to be a way to detect “silent pathogens” and prevent the spread of the disease.
While any Icelandic person can register for the deCode test, people who develop symptoms such as fever or are at high risk of infection, such as healthcare workers, people who have been in an epidemic area, and people in quarantine should undergo tests in a clinic or hospital.
As a result, Iceland has become one of the countries with the highest percentage of infected people in the world, but experts say this is not a “disaster”, because the test results show that around 50% of positive people The calculation with nCoV in Iceland did not show any symptoms. If not tested, detected early, and isolated, they will be a great source of infection for the community.
Dagur B. Eggertsson, Mayor of Reykjavik, believes that the extensive testing strategy and daily press conferences on the anti-Covid-19 results have helped the public join in the prevention of epidemics.
“We cannot use force. Instead, we use the arguments and voices of influencers to encourage people to join forces to fight the epidemic,” he said.
Thorolfur Gudnason, Iceland’s leading epidemiologist, says the country has used a simultaneous “cooling” and “flattening” strategy.
“We are using drastic measures to quickly detect cases,” he said, noting that the vast majority of new cases have been from people in quarantine. The tighter collection ban went into effect on March 24, and the gym, pool, pub, and museum were closed. People are also required to keep a safe distance of 2 m from others.
However, some experts in this country are skeptical about this “pink image”. They say the Icelandic government has yet to take drastic measures to control the new case.
Critics say the testing objective for all people in Iceland is difficult, as it faces many logistical barriers like other countries. The country does not have enough health workers, equipment, and time to evaluate hundreds of thousands in weeks or months. They warn that the false optimism of the Icelandic government will eventually lead to more cases and deaths from Covid-19.
Some argue that the new tight restrictions are what Iceland needs to “quell the epidemic.” They warned that the opening of the school could contribute to the spread of the disease.
“The truth is that many people have been tested. It can be said that Iceland’s assessment rate is higher than that of most other countries, but certainly not for all people. That is not feasible.” Frosti Sigurjonsson, a member of parliament and a critic of the Icelandic government’s fight against the epidemic, said.
Icelandic medical staff took a sample for a resident. Photos: AFP.
Sigurjonsson and another former member of parliament who wrote open letters urged the Icelandic government to be more aggressive. He suggested that the country should shut down tourism and isolate infected people in hotel rooms, rather than at home. “If you can save a life, do it. Don’t think about the cost of that,” he said.
However, Kjartan Hreinn Njalsson, deputy director of the Icelandic Health Agency, said on April 8 that he defended the government’s “test but not block” strategy. “We have more healthy people than infected people,” said Njalsson, adding that many government officials believe that Covid-19 may have reached its peak. “We are not past the peak of the epidemic, but it is about to do so,” he said.
Njalsson also said that Iceland has stockpiled many test kits and other necessary medical supplies. “We know that more test kits are needed and every country in the world is trying to protect their medical supplies,” he said.
The sausage bread stall is still open in the capital Reykjavik. Photos: NYTimes.
After Njalsson’s explanation, former Senator Sigurjonsson said on April 8 that he was more optimistic about the new statistics. “The growth rate of cases has certainly slowed down and the number of new cases is decreasing every day. Therefore, it can be said that the epidemic has reached its peak,” he said, adding that the government was considering comments. Your care.
But another critic, Chris McClure, an entrepreneur and social behavioral epidemiologist, who has been involved in the anti-epidemic mission in Connecticut and Florida, believes the Icelandic government still needs to take more vigorous action, such as closing primary schools and kindergartens. He noted that the children could be “silent pathogens”, saying that Iceland had registered cases of children infected with nCoV.
He acknowledged that the number of new infections in the country had reached its peak, but added that “that does not mean it will decrease.” He cited evidence from other countries that closing the school was effective in controlling the epidemic.
“Iceland has done relatively well since the early stages of the epidemic. But as you can see around the world, test kits, fans and everything else are running out,” McClure said. telephone interview. He noted that at a testing rate of 1,000 people per day, Iceland will have to make efforts at least until the end of this year to be able to assess the entire population.
Gudnason, deputy director of the Icelandic Health Authority, said Iceland did not ban tourists or demand isolation because they generally go in separate groups and leave after a few days, so they don’t have much contact with people in the country.
“The measures are too strict that they can cause a lot of problems for social activities and I don’t know if people can accept that for months or not. It’s curious to see what is happening.” In many countries, there are strong anti-epidemic strategies, “said Gudnason.
John P.A. Ioannidis, professor of biomedical data science and epidemiology at Stanford University, said that with such a comprehensive testing strategy, Iceland is probably the country with the “best” data source in the world. Study nCoV, a virus that scientists still don’t understand.
“The only reason we are doing so well is because we are more alert than many other countries,” Dr. Stefansson told CNN. “We take the information seriously when the outbreak in China starts. We don’t shrug and say, ‘This won’t show.'”
Thanh Tam (The O NYTimes, USA)
