Symptoms occur from two to 12 days after a person has been infected. Most have symptoms after five to seven days.

Usually the symptoms are similar to those of influenza, such as a sore throat, aching muscles, a dry cough and fever. For this reason, it can also be difficult to distinguish between a normal cold or flu and the COVID19 virus, and professional medical care will not usually be needed if the symptoms are not more serious than this.

Common symptoms include:

• Dry og wet cough
• Fever
• Headache
• Loss of sense of smell
• Loss of sense og taste
• Fatigue
• Muscle pain, joint pain or body pain

Less common symptoms

• Chills
• Loss of appetite
• Diarrhoea
• Nausea
• Blocked or runny nose
• Shortness of breath or chest tightness

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, we urge you to call your GP. After opening hours you should call the after-hours GP service on 1870. It is important that you get tested as soon as possible. 

The virus spreads from one person to another through droplets. Droplets can be carried up to two metres through the air from coughing and sneezing, before falling quickly to the ground. The virus does not remain in the air after coughing or sneezing for more than a few seconds and is therefore not an airborne infection. It cannot infect through skin, such as on the hands, and only infects through mucous membrane, typically in the nose, mouth and eyes. The virus cannot infect through sweat.

You can be infected if you stand close to someone who transmits droplets through, for example, hugging, coughing or sneezing and the droplets end up in the mucous membrane of your nose, eyes or mouth. You can also be infected by coming into contact with droplets on a surface, and then touching your nose, eyes or mouth.

We do not yet know with any certainty whether infected people can spread the virus before they develop symptoms.

For headaches and muscle pain, paracetamol, such as Pandodil or Pinex, can be used. For mild pain you can also use preparations containing paracetamol and those of the NSAID variety, such as Ipren and Ibuprofen. Never take more than the recommended dosage.

It is important to drink plenty of liquids, especially if you have a high fever.

If you are having breathing difficulties, or other symptoms become worse, you should call your doctor.  To avoid infecting others, do not go in person to the doctor’s clinic.

To become infected you must have been in direct contact with an infected person. This means, for example, that you have shaken that person’s hand, interacted face-to-face or been within 2 meters of the person for more than 15 minutes, or you have been caring for a person with COVID-19 without using protective gear.

You are not at risk until the person who has had direct contact with an infected person also becomes infected.

The Chief Medical Officer is responsible for tracing those who have been in direct contact with infected people and assess whether they should also be in quarantine.

It seems that most people who are young and otherwise healthy only get mild symptoms. In this sense, COVID-19 resembles the flu, but there are some clear differences between COVID-19 and the flu. This is why authorities are dealing much differently with COVID-19.

With other viral infections, a part of the population is normally immune, as they have been vaccinated or have been previously infected with similar viruses. COVID-19, on the other hand, is a new virus which can infect everyone, because human immune systems have not before been exposed to this kind of virus.  This means that many people can become sick at the same time, putting health services under extreme pressure.

The Chief Medical Officer is urging everyone, including young and healthy people, to follow the official recommendations for minimising the risk of infection in order to protect those members of society whose health condition puts them at greater risk of serious illness.

Those at special risk of infection and of becoming seriously ill from COVID-19 are:

• Elderly people, in particular people over the age of 80
• People with chronic illnesses
• People with cardiovascular disease (not including well-treated high blood pressure)
• People with lung disease (not including well-treated asthma)
• People with weakened immunity, either genetic or due to medicine or diseases, such as AIDS, which reduce
• People with diabetes 1 or 2
• People with cancer
• Children with chronic disease
• As a precaution, pregnant and postnatal women are also considered at risk

All non-essential travel should be avoided. Flights have been significantly reduced. Atlantic Airways only has limited flights between the Faroe Islands and Denmark, while all connections to Bergen, Reykjavík, Edinburgh and Paris have been suspended until further notice. In addition, the Danish police have implemented temporary border controls on all entry to the Faroe Islands, which means that travellers should be prepared to provide proof of identity. Non-national residents in the Faroe Islands will be expected to provide proof of residency.

Read more here:

• Travel

The Danish government has decided to place the entire world on the travel red list. This means that the authorities are discouraging all international travel, included work-related travel. Denmark has therefore introduced stricter requirements to travellers who travel to Denmark and do not have a residence there. Please visit the official page for guidelines on entering the Kingdom of Denmark here.

The new requirements do not apply to domestic flights and travel between the Faroe Islands and Denmark. This means that residents will still be able to travel to Denmark and the Faroe Islands.

All travellers to the Faroe Islands must be tested for COVID-19 upon arrival. This requirement also applies to Faroese citizens and residents. Children younger than 12 years do not need to be tested.

All travellers should test again six days after arrival. Until the test results from the follow-up test are available, travellers should self-quarantine. Results are usually are available within hours or by noon the following day.

Read more about the guidelines for travellers here

Vaccinated travellers, who have completed their vaccination at least eight days prior to their journey, are not required to self-isolate after arrival in the Faroe Islands.

Vaccinated visitors will test upon arrival and should take a follow-up test six days after arrival.

Vaccinated travellers should still adhere to all recommendations, such as cleanliness and social distancing, put forward by the government.

Usually test results are ready the same evening and at midday the following day at the latest.
 

No. 

All travellers will be required to get tested upon arrival in the Faroe Islands. All travellers should proceed to self-quarantine until the test results are ready. 

It is very important that all travellers self-quarantine upon arrival until the test results are ready. If the result is positive and you are confirmed infected, it is very important you take the necessary precautions to reduce and stop the spread. Therefore, all travellers should immediately self-quarantine until the test results are ready. Usually the results are ready the same evening or at the latest by midday the following day.
 

No. All travellers will be required to get tested upon arrival. This also applies for travellers who may have a negative test result from country of departure.

Travellers are also adviced to get a follow-up test on the 6th day upon arrival.

Children younger than 12 are exempt from testing. 

The Chief Medical Officer requires anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19 to remain in isolated quarantine for at least 10 days. You shall have no contact at all with other people to avoid infecting them.

If you are in isolation, you must isolate yourself from others. You do not go to work or run errands and you do not leave the property where you are in isolation. You have no direct and physical contact with other people, including family members, spouse/partner or travelling companion.

If you cannot self-isolate at home you should find an alternative residence. If this is not possible, the Ministry of Health can assist in finding other options, such as a hotel.

Persons that have tested positive for COVID-19 have to remain in isolation for a minimum of 10 days. The Chief Medical Officer will determine when you have recovered. When this has been officially confirmed, you can once again move around freely and you are not at risk of being re-infected by coronavirus. This means that you will not have to go back into quarantine if you come into contact with an infected person.

There are three public test centre in the Faroe Islands.  Opening hours may be adjusted and if so it will be updated here.

You can also get tested at a private laboratory. The cost is DKK 390. Read more here

There are three public test centre in the Faroe Islands.  Opening hours may be adjusted and if so it will be updated here.

You can also get tested at a private laboratory. The cost is DKK 390. Read more here

We recommend all people to arrive in a car as this minimalizes the spread of infection. However special queues will be for people who don't have a car. You can expect longer waiting times, so be sure to bring warm clothes and maybe also a book. 

If you are feeling sick we urge to be wearing a mask. 

You will recieve your test results on sms and e-mail. 

If you are positive, the Chief Medical Officer will call you.

Until the test result for the 6th day is available, you need to be particularly cautious and maintain the recommended personal distance of 1 to 2 meters, have good hygiene, use hand sanitizer and do not attend large gatherings.

Home quarantine means that you:

• Stay at home. You can be together with your family, but remember to maintain a personal distance of 2 metres (6 feet) and maintain good hygiene at home with your family.
• Do not receive visitors from outside.
• If you have to work, do so from home.
• You may go for a drive in your own car and take a nature walk, but only where you will not come into contact with other people. You should avoid all places where there are other people.

• If you have had a confirmed COVID-19 infection and have been in isolation:

An infected person will be released from isolated quarantine when the Chief Medical Officer determines that he or she has made a full recovery.  This will not be until at least 10 days after the infection was first confirmed. The person will be contacted by a doctor the evening before the quarantine period ends.

• If you have been in direct contact with an infected person and have been in quarantine:

People who are in quarantine because they have had direct contact with an infected person will be contacted by a doctor the evening before their period of quarantine ends.

• If you have returned from overseas and have been in home quarantine

You are responsible for your own quarantine. If you do not develop any symptoms within 10 days, your quarantine ends and you can move freely in the community, but remember to follow the official public healt guidelines.

Those who are infected with coronavirus (isolation) and those who have had direct contact with anyone infected with coronavirus (quarantine) may not leave the proberty on which they are staying in quarantine. 

Those who have recently returned to the Faroe Islands (home quarantine) may go for a drive in your own car and take a nature walk, but only places where they will not come into contact with other people. All places where there are other people are to be avoided.

Yes, but remember to keep the recommended distance from other people (2 meters) and be aware that the coronavirus spreads easily and quickly.