Iceland employs detective work, testing and quarantine in coronavirus fight

From the article:

Iceland has tested a far greater proportion of its population than anywhere else on earth, including South Korea — another country touted for its effective response to the pandemic.

But what makes Iceland unique is that test samples are not only taken from ‘high risk’ individuals who have exhibited symptoms, came into contact with known carriers, or returned from countries such as China and Italy, they are also offered to thousands of ordinary members of its general population, who are nonsymptomatic.

The data derived from this widespread testing show that while almost a fifth of those from the ‘high risk’ population prove positive for COVID-19, roughly 1 percent of the general population also carry the virus ‘asymptomatically’ — without showing or experiencing obvious signs of sickness.

Identifying these invisible and unwitting carriers early has helped to break chains of transmission in Iceland. But it could also provide scientists in many other countries with crucial information about the pathology of the virus.