The husband of the 71-year-old Icelandic woman with asthma who died from COVID-19 on Monday March 23rd—the first Icelander to do so—is seriously ill, Stundin reports. The 75-year-old man has been put on a respirator in Landspítali hospital. He has had no other health complications so far.
Sincere and strong words
Their son posted on Facebook on Tuesday, saying goodbye to his mother, and imploring people to learn from his experience. “It’s time for this nation and its citizens to take this seriously and stop acting like idiots,” he wrote.
President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson sent a sincere greeting to the family. In addition, he urged people to exercise caution, and listen to the experts. “We are dealing with a threat to people’s lives and health. The most important thing is to protect those who are the weakest,” he said. “We must follow all the recommendations and instructions in every way. And we trust in our accomplished staff in the health care system. They all deserve many thanks for their work on these difficult days.”
Chief of Police Víðir Reynisson had strong words for those who disregarded public safety instructions. “It’s really important, what we are focusing on, that people obey this. We are not kidding. These numbers are really serious. People must take this seriously.”
Doing the best in a difficult time
As for the family, this is obviously a very difficult time for them. “No one knows how to proceed. We will have to overcome one death and process it. We don’t even know how to do it, because there is nothing normal about it,” the son told Vísir.
Our thoughts go out to the couple’s family in this immensely difficult time, and we wish the man a speedy recovery.
As ever, those looking for more information or advice should go to the Icelandic Government’s excellent COVID-19 help page.
Tune into our daily COVID-Cast for a deeper dive into the day’s developments.
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