Iceland delegate to Eurovision tests positive for Covid

A member of Iceland’s delegation to Eurovision has tested positive for Covid-19 hours ahead of the glitzy competition’s grand opening Sunday in the Dutch port of Rotterdam, organisers said.

The Icelandic delegation will be the second team to miss the music pageant’s opening after a member of the Polish delegation tested positive on Saturday.

“Unfortunately, this means that the Icelandic delegation will now not attend the Turquoise Carpet event in person this afternoon,” Eurovision said, referring to the competition’s official opening.

“In accordance with our strict health and safety protocol this person has now gone into isolation, and as a precautionary measure the other members of their delegation will also now undergo a PCR test and self-isolate,” the organisers said in a statement.

Teams from Romania and Malta, which were staying in the same hotel as those of Iceland and Poland, will also not attend as a preventative measure, Eurovision said.

The Romanian and Maltese delegations will also undergo PCR tests.

“We will have further updates in due course and send our best wishes to the whole delegation,” Eurovision said.

This year’s Eurovision festival is organised with strict rules imposed by the Dutch government to allow the contest at the port city’s Ahoy Arena to go ahead.

Delegations must follow strict protocols, remaining separate from the audience and being tested every 48 hours.

Shows including dress rehearsals, two semi-finals and next Saturday’s final will have only 3,500 spectators, around 20 percent of the Ahoy Arena’s capacity.

Known for its flamboyant costumes and cheesy songs, Eurovision is watched by more than 180 million people in over four dozen countries.

The pageant was scrapped for the first time in its six-decade history last year as coronavirus began sweeping the globe.