Daily Covid-19 infection rates in Iceland, a country dropping all Covid restrictions/Worldometer graphic
Even as Covid-19-infection rates skyrocket, Iceland – the North Atlantic island nation that once believed it could test and isolate to ensure the safety of its citizens until the Covid-19 causing SARS-CoV-2 virus was eliminated – has finally given in to the global pandemic.
As of Friday, all restrictions imposed with the intent of stopping the spread of the disease in the country have been lifted.
Morgunblaðið, Icelandic for “the morning paper” and the most popular news site in the tiny but much-visited nation of 366,000, reported the change in policy this way:
The action came on the same day the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) dropped its recommendation for masks in most of the U.S.
“So what do these updated metrics mean for where we are as a country? As of today, more than half of counties representing about 70 percent of Americans are in areas with low- or medium0COVID 19 community levels. This is an increase from about one-third of counties at low or medium community levels last week, and we continue to see indicators improve in many communities.”
In Iceland, it was reported that the country’s political leaders had decided to leave it to Icelanders to manage their own health.
“The ministers…agreed that most Icelanders had now come to know the disease so well that they would not have difficulty behaving sensibly,” the newspaper reported.
Politics or science?
The CDC’s reasons for its decision were less clear. When a Chicago Tribune reporter asked if the agency was being “pulled along” by governors who’ve already said they’re killing mask mandates, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky dodged.
“Now we’ve been talking about this for some time,” she said before arguing that many governors had ordered “phased-in” unmasking.
“So I would say our guidance actually probably very much intersects exactly where many of those phase approaches are going to be in that many of those governors, when their policies are at play, will coincide with exactly what we are recommending,” Walensky said.
No mention was made of a random controlled trial (RCT) of masks in Denmark in April and May 2020 that found no statistically significant benefit to masking when the levels of circulating SARS-CoV-2 viruses were moderate to low. RCTs are considered the gold standard of medical research.
The study’s findings were wildly controversial at the time with the authors suggesting they had problems finding a journal willing to publish. The document finally made it into the peer-reviewed Annals of Internal Medicine where it was reported that 4,862 of the 6,024 people originally enrolled as maskers or controls “completed the study.
“Infection with SARS-CoV-2 occurred in 42 participants recommended masks (1.8 percent) and 53 control participants (2.1 percent). The between-group difference was −0.3 percentage points.
“The recommendation to wear surgical masks to supplement other public health measures did not reduce the SARS-CoV-2 infection rate among wearers by more than 50 percent in a community with modest infection rates, some degree of social distancing, and uncommon general mask use.”
Much was made of the 50 percent level being too high, and of the possibility masks might be more meaningful with the virus running rampant, a point the authors of the study conceded.
The CDC said Friday that masking should continue in parts of the U.S. where high rates of Covid-19 hospitalizations indicate a high rate of SARS-CoV-2 in circulation, and they said masking could be suggested for other parts of the country as the Covid-19 situations changes week to week.
Iceland officials likewise said they might reinstate restrictions if the virus spins off a deadlier variant than the now widely circulating Omicron, but for now they suggested Icelanders get back to life as normal.
No mentions were made of the economics of the pandemic, but it is hard to ignore the likelihood that economics – along with vaccines highly successful at reducing hospitalization and the arrival of the less virulent Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 – are playing some role in decisions to reduce so-called nonpharmaceutical interventions at a time when infection rates are far higher than when the pandemic began.
Deadly for tourism
Tourism is a mainstay of the Iceland economy, and the tourist industry there has struggled badly since the pandemic began in early 2020 and the world started locking down. Two million visitors still made it to Iceland that year, Morgunblaðið reported, but the number fell to 486,000, about a quarter of that, in 2020.
The number rebounded to 700,000 last year, but that’s still a long way from the 2.3 million in the pre-pandemic year of 2018.
Tourism in Alaska, as in Iceland, was rebounding in 2021, but annual numbers are not yet available and are not expected to be anywhere near the 2.5 million that would have been projected for an industry that had witnessed steady annual growth every year from 2010 until the start of the pandemicis which is far from over, officially or otherwise.
More than 76,000 new cases were reported in the U.S. alone. That’s about equal to the number of cases identified around the world in April 2020, according to the Worldometer tracker. In April 2020, many Western governments were already in panic mode.
By then the Spanish government had imposed a lockdown that ordered everyone but essentially workers to stay in their homes unless they needed to go out to get food to survive. Many other countries soon followed suit.
But the pandemic continued to grow on the global scale. The Worldometer tracker now shows four distinct, global waves of the disease with the biggest peaking with a seven-day moving average of almost 3.4 million infections on Jan. 26 of this year.
“While this meta-analysis concludes that lockdowns have had little to no public health effects, they have imposed enormous economic and social costs where they have been adopted,” it said. “In consequence, lockdown policies are ill-founded and should be rejected as a pandemic policy instrument.”
Politics everywhere
The study proved highly controversial. It was widely criticized, largely because the main authors were neither epidemiologists nor political Progressives. Lead author Steve Hanke “is an applied economist, not an epidemiologist, public health expert, or medical doctor,” reporter Kristina Fiore wrote at MedPage Today. “Hanke is also a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank.
“Hanke’s co-authors are Jonas Herby, MS, a ‘specialist consultant’ at the Center for Political Studies in Copenhagen, and Lars Jonung, PhD, professor emeritus of economics at Lund University in Sweden — a country that famously opted out of lockdowns and only recommended masks in public. Again, neither Herby nor Jonung are medical or public health experts.
“The trio are ‘highly regarded economists who have also been extremely anti-lockdown since March 2020,; tweeted Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz, PhD, an epidemiologist at the University of Wollongong in Australia, who posted a thorough critique of the paper.”
Fiore’s report touched off a firestorm of debate between health professionals in the MedPage comments section. Suffice to say, the medical community like much of the rest of the world seems split between those of the opinion that everything and anything possible must be done “if it saves even one life” and those who believe life must go on because people cannot psychologically survive lockdowns for years.
Iceland’s political leaders appear to have sided with the latter group, which also includes many who do not like masks either while others do.
Walensky and Massetti in their telebriefing made a point of highlighting that with mask recommendations being lifted, anti-maskers should not try to ostracize those who want to continue to wear masks as those who favored masks once did with those who didn’t.
“We should all keep in mind that some people may choose to wear a mask at any time based on personal preference,” Massetti said. “And importantly, people who wear high-quality masks are well protected, even if others around you are not masking. And there are some situations where people should always wear a mask. For example, if they have symptoms, if they tested positive for COVID 19, or if they have been exposed to someone with COVID 19.”
A 2021 report published by the CDC but not peer-reviewed concluded that properly fitted N95 or KN95 mask, the gold-standard of masks, lowered the odds of a Covid-19 infection by 83 percent, but there were, unfortunatel, some serious confounders in the study.
The authors conceded their examination “did not account for other preventive behaviors that could influence risk for acquiring infection, including adherence to physical distancing recommendations,” or avoiding bars and restaurants which other studies have shown to be hotspots for Covid-19 infections.
The study was also conducted before Omicron, “which is more transmissible than earlier variants,” the authors wrote, and ” face mask or respirator use was self-reported, which could introduce social desirability bias.”
In other words, the people who avoided infection might have significantly over-reported their use of masks or respirators to comply with the social mores in place at the time the study was being conducted in California.
The mask debate is still being sorted out, but what is clear is that what works best to slow the spread of any infectious disease is for the sick to stay away from the healthy.
Stay home
Along those lines, authorities in Iceland had a much better recommendation than Massetti’s suggested masking for those who experienced symptoms of Covid-19, tested positive or had been exposed to someone with the disease: Stay home.
Long before the latest pandemic, medical researchers were warning that “preseneetism” – the need to be at work or elsewhere when sick – was driving the spread of respiratory infections. The focus then, before Sars-CoV-2, was on the flu and a 2013 study published in the American Journal of Public Health reported presenteeism was a key factor driving flu outbreaks.
This is equally true for Covid-19 and maybe more so, but there are still those who think going to work while sick is a noble act.
CORRECTION: This is updated version of the original story which in two places wrongly dated the beginning of the pandemic.
Categories: News
Thanks Craig. I have been combing the CDC Covid webpages for a written news release laying out their new masking recommendations. I can’t findone. I find audio files of interviews and transcript of one dated Feb 25.. I found the CDC webpage with masking recommendations updated Feb 25. I’m getting the feeling CDC is trying to slither in with this info rather than even posting something written declaring ” New Guidelines”. I’m not into conspiracy but this feels way too close to Orwell’s pigs repainting the rules at night.
Dan, it has been a conspiracy for the last 2.5yrs. If it smells like a “pig”, it is. I went and saw new and well respected and recommended doctor last week. Never met him before. Covid related. We got to talking and he slams his hand on the desk and says to me “I wouldn’t trust the CDC or FDA for nothing”. I said why stop there? Refreshing to hear instead of the bought and paid for line of crap we have been hearing the last 2.5yrs.
Touchy, aren’t you.
I do not, nor have ever worked for Pfizer (though I did spend 34 years as an RN before retiring).
We can’t build herd immunity by only vaccinating those at highest risk.
(No need to include this in comments. Just don’t have your separate e-mail address.)
( when you promote a product thats had inadequate testing and long term studies being released in mass regardless of effects- you work for phyzer even if you never got paid as you serve as advertiser and promoter that fills their coffers at the expense of unknown ill effects) so yes you work for phyzer/ moderna/ Johnson ect . Regardless of paycheck. Servitude to the narrative.
We reached herd Immunity to the original strain in April 2020 according to John’s Hopkins. Of course Delta is a completely different virus, as is Omicron. Now we have herd Immunity to Omicron. Sorry Gates, Big Pharma, Dems, and teachers unions..
History tells us this is how pandemics die, they simply fade away. Some people saw this coming.
While for some, and for some reason, this has taken them by surprise.
I’m still trying to find that radical shift thing….
You might have mentioned that 79% of Iceland’s population has been fully vaccinated, compared to only 65% in the U.S.
True. And I might have mentioned how the obesity rate in Iceland is less than half that in the U.S., and how there are fewer folks there over age 60. Both of which make Covid-19 less dangerous in that country. And I could have gotten down in the weeds about how less virulent Omicron than Delta, but also how much more infectious and how much better at evading vaccines.
So we get a vaccine that is about half as protective and a variant that is about twice as contagious, which puts us where? Back at the beginning except, thankfully, this variant is less virulent. And that is only partially offset by Americans having grown even fatter during the pandemic.
It would appear far too many took the advice to isolate to mean stock up on munchies, tie yourself to the sofa, turn on Netflix and never leave the house.
Now as to your 65 percent figure; it’s badly misleading. Was that intentional? CDC data shows about 82.5 percent of those over age 50 have had at least two shots. And we know people under that age are at a lot less risk. I consider it minimal at 40 and younger where you are as likely to fall victim to a murder as to Covid.
I realize you work for Pfizer, but c’mon….
The big giveaway on all this is the CDC refusal to release data behind their proclamations. Time to lift up the rock and see what scurries away. Cheers –
Well written. Good points. I think it could be added that there is documented damage from the lockdowns not just economic but suicide ,murders ,loss of educational and emotional stress on families and old people. People have died , lost their buisnesses , fortunes , caused old people to be isolated and lonely and all manner of social ills effecting life expectancies.and General health. People are even documented to have gained a higher dangerous fat percentage and become less fit .
The fact is people are starting to wake-up. They are getting restless, they are dusting off their pitchforks. They are tiring of petty tyrants who launder their illegal money through the Ukraine. They are tired of wars as a distraction from tyrannt failures at home. They are educating themselves on a guy named Mussolini. They are tired of repeating themselves only to have these fascist governments repeat it 2yrs later as fact. They are tired of the likes of Biden or Trudeau calling Putin a “tyrannt” whole crushing peaceful protests. They are tired of the blatant years of Covid lying by CDC, FDA, CIA, FBI, NIH, and the rest of the elitist, corrupt governments throughout the world. If the Chinese are calling out Trudeau for Human Rights violations you know it is bad. Trudeau crushing peaceful protests and freezing bank accounts of non-violent protestors while supporting anarchy, riots, and violent protests speaks volumes of this petty tyranny.
Yes, the people are tired of the Covid “political” science lies. Politicians are feeling the heat, thus their coordinated lifting of Covid restrictions. Hopefully there is a storm brewing and their names will not be forgotten.
The mid-terms are coming up. We are only 14 months into this 3yr nightmare.
Bryan,I wonder if they have mask mandates in Kiev….
Dave whats your take on the whole Ukraine thing?
Dave, I do know Hunter and Pelosi’s son sat on Ukranian boards to the tune of $85,000/month and never stepped foot in the Ukraine.Let’s not forget “10% for the Big ‘Joe’s Guy”. I do know our corrupt politicians launder their corrupt Chinese and Russian money through the Ukraine. I do know Obama/Biden/Soros and their 2014 Ukrainian coup are responsible for what is going on today in the Ukraine. I know Biden is importing 600,000 barrels of oil oil day from Russia while shutting down America’s resources within the first hour of his term. I assume there is masks and Covid test kits somewhere in Kiev. There’s still money to be made off that scam.
Bryan,like many things along the great Silk Road,the history is a bit deeper.Heres an old (2014 btw)primer.I was reading an even better and current Nat Geo version on my phone earlier in the day, but paywall came up before I could finish it.
Its easy to point fingers at the Black socialist former community activist.But the problems predate his admin by quite a bit.Although a lot of the current history actually starts with the collapse of the USSR Yeltsin/Clinton characters.So I guess you could draw consolation prize and blame it on that Demo.
Enjoy the primer: https://www.historytoday.com/archive/history-matters/ukraine-and-russia-troubled-history
Dave , thank you . Eill read when time . ( I know you sent for Bryan but looks like a good read that predates current fog of war and propaganda so thanks.
Dave MC, of course I blame it on one party that has been taken over my radicals who self identify as “,Socialists/Marxists, and Communists”. Le T’s try and guess in the timeliness where we are at and why?
“Russia’s Prime Minister Nikita Khrushchev comments made on September 29, 1959:
“Your children’s children will live under communism, You Americans are so gullible. No, you won’t accept communism outright; but we will keep feeding you small doses of socialism until you will finally wake up and find you already have Communism. We will not have to fight you; We will so weaken your economy, until you will fall like overripe fruit into our hands.” “The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.”
Dave Mc, but let me get to your point:
Bill Clinton started to weaken Ukraine by insisting they give nukes back to Russia, along with persuading them into scaling back their military.
Barak Obama allowed Russia to establish itself in Crimea, when the U.S. was bound by agreement to defend Crimea – However, the U.S. didn’t do anything, other than watch Russia at the sidelines easily take Crimea due to Obama’s feckless leadership.
Joe Biden strengthened Putin’s grasp/dominance on the petroleum and liquified natural gas (LNG) markets which is funding Putin’s atrocities in Ukraine now, while the U.S. continues to buy Putin’s Russian oil.
Trump demanded that NATO countries contribute their obligated 2% share of funding. He also warned EU, and NATO countries (especially Germany) to not rely on Russia for energy/fuel in petroleum/oil/LNG, yet they did so anyway- largely due to the uncertainty of the U.S. WOKE liberal/progressive left incessant pursuit of alternate fuels yet to be materialized/utilized nor cost effective/affordable for the country’s general population.
Dem leadership, and its lack thereof, is largely responsible for all Russian aggression today.
I know “Trump” said Putin was “smart” and Obama said “tell Vlad I’ll have more flexibility once I win”. Still don’t know what that meant, but with Obama we can guess.
Bryan,
WE the US took control and dismantled the nukes(the sum of $20 million was appropriated by congress is what my vague memory says).
N.K has been dead for ~50 yrs,communism died in the early ‘90’s with the collapse of the eastern euro bloc.
DPR,we’re in WWlll,hopefully it looks nothing like versions l&ll.
The tricky part will be in trying to give vlad the potentate for life a way to save face.
Beyond the obvious shooting war outcomes,the ramifications of this altercation will ripple around the globe imo(i.e china/formosa)