Reykjavík Grapevine - des. 2021, Blaðsíða 4

What Are Icelanders
Talkin! About?
All the headlines that nobody bothers to
read beyond
Words: Andie Sophia Fontaine Photos: Art Bicnick
As one of her last acts
as Minister of Health,
Svandís Svavarsdóttir announced
new border guidelines in the wake
of the so-called Omicron variant of
the coronavirus. According to the
new rules, anyone who has spent
24 hours or more in Eswatini,
Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia,
Zimbabwe or South Africa within
14 days of coming to Iceland must
take a PCR test, go into immediate
quarantine, and then take another
PCR test five days later, whether
or not they have been vaccinated.
This new rule went into effect on
Nov. 27th. However, with the vari-
ant already detected in the UK and
elsewhere in Europe, there may
be arrivals to Iceland who never
spent a second in the restricted
nations who may nonetheless be
carrying the variant. Indeed, the
first confirmed case of Omicron in
Iceland was detected on December
1st , in an individual who had not
even been abroad.
By the way, the reason why this was
one of her last acts as Health Minis-
ter is because the new government
was announced on the 28th. Some
new ministries were created, and
the Progressives increased their
ministerial presence, but for the
most part we’re seeing the same
faces within Iceland’s ministries,
albeit in different positions; only
Katrín Jakobsdóttir and Bjarni
Benediktsson kept their previ-
ous jobs, as Prime Minister and
Finance Minister, respectively.
In fact there are only three new
faces: Progressive MP Willum
!ór !órsson as Health Minister,
and two Independence Party MPs
serving as Minister of Justice, Jón
Gunnarsson for the first half of the
term and Gu"rún Hafsteinsdóttir
for the second half of the term.
More details on the new govern-
ment and its joint platform can be
found at grapevine.is/news, but
the broad strokes are that we’re
getting four more years of the
same.
As if things weren’t bad enough,
it looks like glacial flooding from
Grímsvötn may begin soon. Scien-
tists monitoring the ice over the
volcano have detected a consider-
able amount of meltwater, and GPS
measurements show that it's prob-
ably on its way down the moun-
tain. Adding insult to injury, such
glacial flooding is often (but not
always) accompanied by a volcanic
eruption. On the bright side, scien-
tists also believe that if the volcano
does erupt, it probably won’t be
a devastating, flight-disrupting
volcano like Eyjafjallajökull was.
That said, volcanoes are notori-
ously difficult to predict, so the
consensus remains “maybe it’ll
erupt, maybe it won’t.” Keep your
fingers crossed!
Lastly, the Animal Welfare Foun-
dation (AWF) and Tierschutzbund
Zürich have exposed deplorable
conditions at so-called “blood
farms” in Iceland, where mares are
impregnated to have their blood
harvested for a hormone that
increases pork production. Many
Icelanders weren’t even aware such
farms exist. Indeed, only three
countries in the world engage in
this practice. Horse lovers across
the country have denounced the
farms, and so it might be that they
won’t be long for this world.
4The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 12— 2021First
NEWS
Grímsvötn: glacial meltdown
Published by
Fröken ehf.
Hafnarstræti 15,
101 Reykjavík
www.grapevine.is
grapevine@grapevine.is
Member of the
Icelandic Travel
Industry Association
www.saf.is
Printed by Landsprent
ehf.
PUBLISHER
Hilmar Steinn
Grétarsson
hilmar@grapevine.is
+354 540 3601
publisher@grapevine.is
EDITOR!IN!CHIEF
Valur Grettisson
valur@grapevine.is
NEWS EDITOR
Andie Sophia Fontaine
andiesophia@
grapevine.is
CULTURE EDITOR
John Pearson
johnpearson@
grapevine.is
PHOTO EDITOR
Art Bicnick
art@grapevine.is
COPY EDITOR
Catharine Fulton
WRITER
Josie Gaitens
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Shruti Basappa
INTERNS
Desirai Thompson
dersirai@grapevine.is
Reetta Huhta
reetta@grapevine.is
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Atli Már Hafsteinsson
Gunnar Freyr
Gunnarsson
Gunnar Vigfússon
John Pearson
Hekla Magnúsdóttir
Karl Petersson
Mummi Lú
Yael Bar Cohen
Owen Fiene
Sigur!ur Bogi
Sigga Ella
Steinar Ólafsson
Patrik Ontkovic
Pola Mara
"rándur #órarinsson
SALES DIRECTORS
A!alsteinn
Jörundsson
adalsteinn@grapevine.is
Helgi "ór Har!arson
helgi@grapevine.is
FOUNDERS
Hilmar Steinn
Grétarsson,
Hör!ur Kristbjörnsson,
Jón Trausti
Sigur!arson,
Oddur Óskar
Kjartansson,
Valur Gunnarsson
CONTACT US:
—» Editorial
+354 540 3600
editor@grapevine.is
—» Advertising
354 540 3605
ads@grapevine.is
—» Distribution
& Subscriptions
+354 540 3604
distribution@
grapevine.is
—» Press releases
events@grapevine.is
—» General Inquiries
grapevine@grapevine.is
The Reykjavík
Grapevine is
published every
month by Fröken Ltd.
Nothing in this
magazine may be
reproduced in whole
or in part without the
written permission of
the publishers.
The Reykjavík
Grapevine is
distributed
around Reykjavík,
Akureyri, Egilssta!ir,
Sey!isfjör!ur,
Borgarnes, Keflavík,
Ísafjör!ur, and at
key locations along
Iceland's route 1.
It is also avaiable
at all major tourist
attractions and
information centres
around the country.
You may not like The
Reykjavík Grapevine,
but at least it's
an independent
publication. None
of our editorial is
directed by sponsors
or advertisers, and all
opinions expressed
are the writer's own.
Now where did I put those ballots? I had them a minute ago...
THE HOME
OF ICELANDIC
SEAFOOD
AND LAMB
APOTEK Kitchen+Bar is a casual-smart
restaurant located in one of Reykjavíks
most historical buildings.
We specialize in fresh seafood
and local ingredients
prepared with a modern twist.
APOTEK KITCHEN+BAR Austurstræti 16 101 Reykjavík apotek.is