On Apr. 14, 2020, scientists at deCODE genetics and Iceland’s Directorate of Health and the National University Hospital published in the New England Journal of Medicine a population-based study of the early spread of the SARS-Cov-2 virus in Iceland.

The aim of the study was to provide as comprehensive a view as possible of how the virus spreads in a population, in this case one of 360,000 and implementing early and aggressive testing, tracking and isolation measures to contain the epidemic.

The results show that roughly 0.8% of the population at large is infected with several strains or clades of the virus supporting the concern that silent carriers spread the disease. This suggests that while the efforts of the public health system have been effective so far in mitigating the spread to date.