'I Was Put On A List': How Iceland's Closely Monitored Contact Tracing Kept Its Outbreaks Under Control

Life in Iceland has remained relatively normal during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Department of Public Safety keeps strict tabs on citizens who test positive for the virus and those who might, leading to very managed minor outbreaks.

Scroll down to follow one person's story interacting with this system.

This is Pall. He lives in Reykjavik, Iceland.

In September, Pall's roommate tested positive for Covid-19.

The Department of Public Safety required Pall's roommate to make list of names and contact information of all the people he had interacted with in the last 5 days.

Pall was on the list.

Pall received a phone call immediately from a representative telling him he was required to quarantine for 1 week, then attend his scheduled Covid test.

Breaking quarantine would be considered breaking the law.

One week later, Pall attended his scheduled test in his area. Fortunately, it was negative.

If he had not attended, he would have been contacted by the representative again. He is now free to not quarantine.

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Use the tool below to see what someone in Iceland would be directed to do in regards to their contact tracing program.

Start
- Have you been in Iceland for more than 5 days or did you just enter?
  - I have been in Iceland for more than 5 days.
    - Did you test positive for COVID-19 in the last 2 weeks?
      - Yes
        
        Have you interacted with anyone in the past 5 days?
        
        Yes
        
        You and anyone you interacted with in the past 5 days quarantine for 2 weeks.
        
        No
        
        You quarantine for 2 weeks.
      - No
        
        Have you interacted with anyone in the past 2 weeks who has tested positive for COVID-19?
        
        Yes
        
        Quarantine for 2 weeks.
        
        No
        
        No need to quarantine.
  - I just entered Iceland.
    - Would you like to be tested or quarantined?
      - Tested
        
        You are tested at the airport. Is it positive or negative?
        
        Positive
        
        Quarantine for 2 weeks.
        
        Negative
        
        Quarantine for 5 days. Then get another test. Is it positive or negative?
        
        Positive
        
        Quarantine for 2 weeks.
        
        Negative
        
        No need to quarantine.
      - Quarantine
        
        Quarantine for 2 weeks.