Finally! Study shows how Iceland model of early testing helped in dealing with coronavirus

Be it powerful economies or developing nations, everyone is looking for a model to contain novel coronavirus which has taken lives of hundreds of thousands so far. And now it seems that Iceland has an answer. The country has shown how to remain one step ahead of coronavirus pandemic. And this model involves testing more people and started preparing for it one month before the virus arrived in the nation.

A study published on Tuesday by the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers from Icelandic universities and deCODE Genetics, a subsidiary of the US biotech giant Amgen, showed the results of an all-out screening program initiated on January 31, before the virus even got its name: COVID-19 and more than a month before it was deemed as a global pandemic.

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The program was conducted in two phases, the first starting from january 31, which targetted symptomatic COVID-19 infections and people who had travelled to high-risk areas, initially China and the Alps regions of Austria, Italy and Switzerland, or people who had come in contact with others who tested positive with coronavirus.

Out of the 9,000 people tested in this phase, 13.3 per cent people were infected with coronavirus as of late March. On Febuary 28, Iceland confirmed its first infection.

In the second-part of the programme that began from March 13, deCODE Genetics screened the general popuplation who had either mild symptoms or no symptoms and were not in quarantine. The study found out that the proportion of positive cases was significantly lower, in the range of 0.6-0.8 per cent.

So far, Iceland has tested 36,000 people for COVID-19, which is 10 per cent of its population, the highest per capita tests.

This testing on a mass level helped Iceland in detecting patients who have shown no signs of the symptoms coronavirus but are contagious. The patients who tested positive were then asked to self-isolate for 10 days untill their fever subsidised and they test negative for the coronavirus. People who had come in contact with them were asked to self-quarantine for two weeks.

Unlike other countries, Iceland, didn't shut down day care facilities and elementary schools. High schools and universities were closed down on March 16, followed by swimming pools, sports arenas, bars and restaurants.

Iceland has reported 1,720 cases so far which is proportionally higher compared to countries that test only people who have been admitted to hospital. However, only eight people died in the country due to COVID-19.

The government believes that the worst of the crisis is over and intends to reopen high schools, universities, museums and beauty salons on May 4.