Unchanged public health measures until 9 December

COVID-19: Public health measures remain in place until 9 December

See the announcement on the website of the Cabinet Office. 

The Minister of Health has decided to extend the current regulations on restrictions on gatherings and school activities unchanged until the 9th of December. This is in line with the recommendation of the Director of Public Health, who advises against relaxing public health measures at this time due to how the pandemic has developed in recent days.

As stated in the attached memorandum from the Chief Medical Officer, dated 29 November, he had previously anticipated that it would be possible to introduce cautious relaxations to the current Public Health Act on 2 December, and presented specific proposals to that effect to the minister a week ago. The Chief Medical Officer, however, qualified this by reserving the right to reconsider his recommendations on easing the restrictions if the course of the epidemic were to change. The Chief Medical Officer states that there have been changes in the epidemic recently. Cluster infections have emerged and the number of infections has increased. The number of those diagnosed outside quarantine appears to be heading for linear growth and possibly exponential growth, says the Chief Medical Officer. His recommendation is that no changes be made to the current public health measures, i.e. restrictions on gatherings and school activities, for the next one to two weeks. In the review of public health measures, which begins immediately, consideration will be given, among other things, to whether there is a case for making relaxations in the regions beyond the capital region, in line with the considerations of the Chief Medical Officer in the attached memorandum, dated 30 November.

The decision involves unchanged public health measures until and including 9 December.