Covid situation “a cause for concern”

There have been 95 confirmed Covid cases since 1 July, compared with 57 throughout June.

This is a cause for concern, says chief medical officer Lars Fodgaard Møller.

Many of the recent cases are linked to nightlife activities, and most of these involve the Alpha variant, previously known as the UK variant.

But, he adds, there are also many cases involving the Delta variant, previously known as the Indian variant, and this variant has recently spread at sports events across the country, with children as young as eight infected.

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“As we all know by now, when many people gather in one place, there is a high risk of infection,” says Møller.

He adds that the Delta variant has been the most common variant in the past few days, and Delta is on track to become the dominant variant in the country.

“A lot of the recent Delta cases are found in people returning from Mallorca, and we highly recommend that everyone who has been to Mallorca self-isolates until they receive a negative result from their follow-up test four days after returning to the Faroes.”

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A few – though not many – of those who recently tested positive were fully vaccinated.

“We have known from the start that the vaccine does not provide 100-percent protection,” he says.

“But I should add that we have only registered one fully vaccinated person who has passed on the virus to others, which suggests that fully vaccinated people are probably less likely to transmit the virus to others than we thought.”

Contact tracing more difficult now

There are currently many small chains of infection in the Faroes.

“When we say in our daily reports that people are linked to a known chain of infection, this does not necessarily mean that these people have been quarantined. It just means we have established the source of their infection,” says Møller.

“Before the Delta variant arrived, we usually managed to quarantine everyone within hours. But contact tracing has become more of a challenge with this new variant because it is more infectious.”

Plenty of vaccine doses

Møller agrees with the Prime Minister, who said last week that vaccinations are progressing too slowly.

“We have plenty of vaccines, and vaccination is the only weapon we have against this virus. So I urge everyone to book a vaccination appointment as soon as possible.”

Click here to register. Those requiring assistance with filling in the forms can call 304545 on weekdays between 2pm and 4pm. Questions can also be directed to the Corona hotline (304040), open Mondays-Thursdays 10am-3pm.

For further information about Covid-19 in the Faroes, visit corona.fo.

Read the Faroese version of this article here.

Translated by prosa.fo.

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