Iceland Wants ‘As Many As Possible' To Contract Covid

Iceland’s health ministry said yesterday that it wants “as many people as possible” to be infected with the coronavirus in order to achieve “widespread societal resistance”.

- Thomas Kingsley

The country will lift all of its remaining Covid-19 restrictions tomorrow, including a 200-person indoor gathering limit and restricted opening hours for bars.

“Widespread societal resistance to Covid-19 is the main route out of the epidemic,” the ministry said in a statement, citing infectious disease authorities. It added that to achieve widespread societal resistance, which is also referred to as “herd immunity”, “as many people as possible needed to be infected with the virus as the vaccines are not enough, even though they provide good protection against serious illness”.