Iceland court rules against mandatory COVID quarantine hotels
This week, a district court in Iceland's capital city of Reykjavik ruled in seven cases that a mandatory stay at a quarantine hotel is illegal, as reported by Iceland Monitor.
A government measure came into effect on April 1 compelling a quarantine hotel stay for all travellers arriving in Iceland from a country "where the 14-day incidence of COVID-19 infection exceeds 500 per 100,000 population," which is considered to be a "dark red" zone by the European Union. However, the Reykjavik District Court has ruled that there is no legal ground to compel those who have legal residence in Iceland to abide by this rule.
According to the Iceland Monitor, following the ruling, "the Ministry of Health announced that all those able to spend the rest of their quarantine under acceptable conditions were free to leave the quarantine hotel. On the government website, the ruling is announced."
Despite the new ruling, Gylfi Þór Þorsteinsson, supervisor of the quarantine hotel (Fosshótel Reykjavík, the country’s largest hotel), told reporters that just 15 people to whom the ruling applies chose to check out of the hotel and complete their quarantine at home.
As per Reykjavik Grapevine, the government will need to reconvene on the issue, and in order to enforce quarantine hotels, current regulations will need to be changed with a possibility of new laws being passed in parliament.
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