Respiratory illness in Iceland
The three major respiratory pathogens side by side — influenza, COVID-19 and RSV — in Iceland, based on ECDC ERVISS weekly data from the Directorate of Health (Landlæknir).
Current situation: Influenza
In week 15 of 2026, activity of influenza (seasonal flu) in Iceland is low. The trend — derived from clinical surveillance — is falling. Over a four-week comparison, a clear decline is visible.
The classification is based on the ECDC ERVISS weekly reports, drawing on data from the Directorate of Health (Landlæknir) via primary-care surveillance and Landspítali laboratory data. Seasonally, infection waves in Iceland typically peak between January and March; activity is usually markedly lower during the summer months. How severe a given season becomes depends on the circulating virus variant and the population's immune status, among other factors.
Current situation: COVID-19
In week 15 of 2026, activity of COVID-19 in Iceland is low. The trend — derived from clinical surveillance — is falling. Over a four-week comparison, a clear decline is visible.
The classification is based on the ECDC ERVISS weekly reports, drawing on COVID-19 surveillance data from the Directorate of Health (Landlæknir) via primary-care surveillance and Landspítali laboratory data. Seasonally, infection waves in Iceland typically peak during winter, with occasional summer waves driven by new variants; activity is usually markedly lower in late spring between waves. How severe a given season becomes depends on the circulating virus variant and the population's immune status, among other factors.
Current situation: RSV
In week 15 of 2026, activity of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in Iceland is low. The trend — derived from clinical surveillance — is falling. Over a four-week comparison, a clear decline is visible.
The classification is based on the ECDC ERVISS weekly reports, drawing on RSV surveillance data from the Directorate of Health (Landlæknir) via primary-care surveillance and Landspítali laboratory data. Seasonally, infection waves in Iceland typically peak between December and February; activity is usually markedly lower in spring and summer. How severe a given season becomes depends on the circulating virus variant and the population's immune status, among other factors.
Data sources and methodology
The current picture for Iceland is built on the European Respiratory Virus Surveillance Summary (ERVISS), published weekly by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). the Directorate of Health (Landlæknir) via primary-care surveillance and Landspítali laboratory data is the national public-health authority that feeds ERVISS with sentinel primary care and virology data.
ECDC ERVISS
ERVISS is ECDC's weekly pan-European surveillance summary for influenza, SARS-CoV-2 and RSV. National authorities — in Iceland's case the Directorate of Health (Landlæknir) via primary-care surveillance and Landspítali laboratory data — submit harmonised indicators every week, which ECDC publishes in a standardised dataset on Thursdays. Using ERVISS rather than each country's native portal ensures cross-country comparability.
ILI / ARI consultation rates and positivity
the Directorate of Health (Landlæknir) via primary-care surveillance and Landspítali laboratory data operates a sentinel network of general practices that report weekly rates of patients consulting for influenza-like illness (ILI) or acute respiratory infection (ARI). A subset of patients is swabbed and tested by reference laboratories, producing pathogen-specific positivity rates for flu, SARS-CoV-2 and RSV.
Why this source
Combining consultation incidence with virological positivity yields a pathogen-specific weekly incidence signal (ILI × positivity / 100). This is the standard European methodology and provides a more robust view than either indicator alone — consultation rates capture illness burden, positivity confirms which pathogen is driving it.
Qualitative classification
The “low”, “moderate” and “high” categories follow seasonal reference values and epidemiological thresholds calibrated to match our classifications for other countries. The ILI × positivity / 100 product is scaled to comparable thresholds using a divisor of 3, which aligns European sentinel peaks with the consultation-equivalent scale used elsewhere. Data refreshes weekly when ECDC publishes the latest ERVISS update, typically on Thursdays.
Frequently asked questions
How is overall respiratory-illness activity tracked in Iceland?
Landlæknir and Landspítali integrate primary-care consultations, laboratory positivity, hospital and ICU admissions for severe acute respiratory infection, and virological characterisation at the hospital reference laboratory into a weekly respiratory-virus picture covering flu, SARS-CoV-2, and RSV. The same indicators feed ECDC ERVISS. On infectrisk.com we condense this picture into a qualitative low/moderate/high classification.
Why does Iceland's small population affect the data?
Iceland has only around 400,000 residents, so absolute case counts are much smaller than in larger European countries. Individual weeks can therefore carry more random noise — a handful of extra cases can shift a rate noticeably. For that reason, Landlæknir and infectrisk.com place more weight on multi-week trends than on single-week data points when judging whether activity is rising, falling, or stable.
Did Iceland experience a “tripledemic”?
“Tripledemic” is a media label for the simultaneous winter circulation of flu, COVID-19, and RSV that was widely discussed from the 2022–2023 season onward. Iceland saw clear co-circulation of all three pathogens that winter, with notable pressure on paediatric wards at Landspítali from RSV-driven bronchiolitis. Co-circulation has recurred each winter since, though the relative intensity of each pathogen varies.
How does Landlæknir decide that activity is “high”?
Landlæknir uses thresholds derived from historical reference data. Current indicators — primary-care consultations, laboratory positivity, hospitalisation signals — are compared against baselines from past non-epidemic weeks and against reference points from severe past seasons. Because the population is small, several indicators rising together across multiple weeks is a stronger signal than any one week's reading. Iceland's ERVISS contribution uses the same framework for cross-country comparison.
How does Iceland compare to Norway and Denmark?
Iceland's Nordic and Atlantic climate, primary-care structure, and school calendar share much with Norway and Denmark, and the three countries' winter respiratory curves typically move broadly in step. Because all report into ECDC ERVISS on the same schedule and methodology, the relative timing and intensity of their peaks is easy to read in the European dashboards. Iceland's smaller sample size makes Nordic cross-comparison a useful sanity check when interpreting noisy weekly signals.
Want the actual numbers?
You'll find them in the app.
Here you only see the trend. In the app: exact incidence rates, “X out of 100 people infectious”, your personal risk based on age and pre-existing conditions, wastewater trends, 36 countries, home-screen widget.
