The Faroe Islands have tested the most per capita in the world, thanks to equipment purchased when the virus disease Infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) ravaged the country between 2000 and 2005.
The story was first discussed in Politiken on March 22, and on Wednesday the Danish state channel DR wrote about the same.
When the ISA virus broke ground on the Faroese aquaculture industry in the 2000s, a lot of test equipment was purchased, which has now been adjusted and used early to fight the coronavirus in the country.
“Whether it is a sample from a salmon or a sample from a human, it does not matter methodically,” said geneticist Debes Hammershaimb Christiansen in the Danish Food Inspection to DR.
Now the Faroe Islands have tested the most per capita, about 8.3 per cent. A total of 173 people have tested positive, none have died. By comparison, Denmark has tested 0.4 per cent of the population and has over 3,000 infected and 104 dead.
“We have been able to follow the recommendations, and when you test as many as possible, you identify those who have viruses, and then you can stop the chain of infection. We have succeeded in getting the coronavirus infection rate down to 1.3 (how many people each coronavirus carrier will average .ed), and that is actually low. When you hit one, the epidemic dies out,” said Shahin Gaini, who is a specialist at the Hospital Landshospital in the Faroe Islands.
