Health authorities confirm that mandatory Covid testing for arrivals to the Faroe Islands will indeed expire as planned by September 1st.
About a month ago the testing mandate was extended for a month, and as of August 25th the Epidemics Commission stated that the current public testing program is to be ended by September 1st. Likewise it was stated at that point that at least 80 percent of the Faroese population were to be vaccinated before mandatory testing at the border were to be discontinued. That aim, however, has now been abandoned, with 68 percent of the population having received the first jab of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and 63.5 pc. fully vaccinated as of August 26th.
“Sooner or later we’d have to stop testing people at the borders,” Michael Boolsen, Faroe Islands Police Chief and chairman of the Epidemics Commission told public broadcaster KvF on Wednesday. “Earlier we concluded the time had come to stop the program, however an outbreak in July made us extend it up until August 31st.”
“With the distribution of the vaccine and the overall current situation, in our assessment we’ve now reached the point where the natural step is to discontinue the testing program,” Mr. Boolsen said.
Along with the discontinuation of mandatory border testing, other changes have been made to the official guidelines, effective September 1st.
In that respect, as a precaution, it’s advised that anyone who travels to the Faroe Islands be tested for Covid two days prior to departure and two days after arrival. People are likewise advised to remain cautious until they’ve received their test result.
“The infection rate has been good lately,” Prime Minister Bárður á Steig Nielsen noted. “We have more or less gone back to normal, and now this will include circumstances at the border as well. The Faroe Islands have done well. People have taken responsibility and I hope that people will also embrace and respect the new guidelines.”