Increased freedom from Covid restrictions

Three key changes were announced at today's press conference:

With up to 13,000 vaccine doses expected to arrive in the next two weeks, some changes will be made to the vaccination strategy.

“Young people will no longer be put at the back of the priority queue as they are generally the most sociable group in society. They deserve to get out and enjoy a normal summer,” said Prime Minister Bárður á Steig Nielsen.

He added that this will not necessarily mean that vaccinating young people will be done at the expense of other age groups, as there will most likely be enough vaccine doses to cover other age groups too. Further details on the vaccination strategy will be announced in the coming days.

Relaxed guidelines for travellers

Fully vaccinated travellers will continue to be exempt from quarantine.

Quarantine rules for those who are not fully vaccinated have also been eased. Once incoming travellers have received a negative result from the Covid test taken on arrival, they can go out, e.g. to a restaurant, under controlled conditions.

In other words, the previously mandatory four-day quarantine has been somewhat eased. However, until they receive a negative result from their follow-up test taken on the fourth day, they should not attend events where many people get together, such as concerts, birthday parties, sports events or nightlife activities.

“This is a good way to kickstart our struggling tourism industry,” said Nielsen.

“We believe this is a safe measure, given the good progress of our vaccination programme and the strength of our contact tracing system. And our tourist operators have been given detailed instructions on safety procedures with regards to tourists.”

Limits for mass events unchanged

The current maximum limit of 500 people gathering in groups will remain in place, which means that large music festivals are still not advisable.

”We still recommend a maximum of 500 people for events, whether inside or outside,” he said.

“For those insisting on organising events with more people, we strongly advise that they consult with the health authorities so we can make sure that contact tracing will be possible at such events.”

A normal summer

The Prime Minister concluded the press conference by saying that the eased restrictions will be reevaluated if the infection rates worsen.

“So I hope we will all remember to practice caution and common sense as diligently as we have done so far. That way, we can all enjoy a normal summer.”

Read the Faroese version of this article here.

Translated by prosa.fo

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