COVID-19 handling strategy in Iceland : Centralised and expert-led

Abstract

In this chapter, material from a case study based on interviews in northern Iceland’s Akureyri municipality is used to shed light on how and which governmental-level decisions or recommendations on crisis reactions were made and how actors at different levels reacted to and implemented these. The mayor of Akureyri, who had a very good oversight of how things developed, was interviewed, along with the chairman of the municipal council. This interview data is used here to investigate how decisions, including either recommendations or restrictions from the state level, were perceived at the local level. The findings will be considered in relation to how Iceland succeeded in fighting the pandemic.