Like so many countries, Iceland, with its population of 364,000 inhabitants, has been stricken by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). From 13 January through 4 April 2020, 13.3% of 9199 persons chosen for testing because they had symptoms or had traveled from places of high risk were found to be positive. Voluntary testing of 13,080 people from the general population revealed that 0.8% were positive for SARS-CoV-2. Using contact tracing, Gudbjartsson et al. revealed that the source of infection shifted over time, from travel to family contact. Viral sequencing data confirmed how imported viral strains spread to others in Iceland. The data from late March indicate a stable infection rate, showing the effect of the social distancing measures that Iceland put in place.
