A second COVID-19 test on ministers likely to be at risk of coronavirus infection came back negative.
The tests were carried out on the fact that ministers may have contracted the Cronavirus during a dinner at the Hotel Ranga where several other people fell ill at the same time. However, as it turned out, the test results of all government representatives turned out negative.
The research results were disclosed late in the evening, in a press release from the Prime Minister’s Office. The first COVID-19 test was conducted on Friday and the test results were negative. All ministers who thought they had been exposed to the virus passed a second test on Monday morning. Additional tests carried out for three employees in the Chancellery of the Prime Minister also turned out to be negative.
At the Hotel Rangá, near Hella in the south of Iceland, a dinner was held on August 18 with almost all the ministers attending. At the same time, coronavirus infections were detected in the hotel. The Minister of Health Svandís Svavarsdóttir and the Minister of Social Affairs and Children Ásmundur Einar Daðason did not attend the dinner.
Since then, the authorities have conducted extensive testing among hotel staff and guests. People who met at breakfast at the specified time were immediately quarantined. On Friday, the Health Directorate announced that eight out of ten people diagnosed with active COVID-19 infections that day were staying at the hotel. As a result, the government guests staying at the hotel were quarantined and tested.