COVID-19 pandemic in Greenland

The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have spread to Greenland – an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark – in March 2020.[2] There have been 13 confirmed cases, but none in need of hospitalization. Among the first 11, the last infected person had recovered on 8 April and Greenland had no known active cases.[1] After a period of time without any new confirmed cases, one was confirmed on 24 May when a person tested positive at the entry into the territory,[3] and another (unrelated to the 24 May case) was confirmed at entry on 27 May.[4]

COVID-19 in Greenland
Disease	COVID-19
Virus strain	SARS-CoV-2
Location	Greenland
Index case	Nuuk
Arrival date	16 March 2020 (5 months)
Confirmed cases	14[1]
Recovered	14[1]
Deaths	0

Background

On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan, Hubei, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.[5][6]

The case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower than SARS of 2003,[7][8] but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll.[9][7]

Timeline

COVID-19 cases in Greenland  ()      Deaths        Recoveries        Active cases
Date			# of cases
2020-03-16		​	1(n.a.)
2020-03-18		​	2(+100%)
⋮		​	2(=)
2020-03-22		​	4(+100%)
2020-03-24		​ ​	5(+25%)
2020-03-25		​ ​	6(+20%)
2020-03-27		​ ​	10(+66%)
2020-03-27		​ ​	10(=)
⋮		​ ​	10(=)
2020-04-03		​ ​	10(=)
2020-04-04		​ ​	11(+10%)
2020-04-06		​ ​	11(=)
2020-04-07		​ ​	11(=)
2020-04-08		​	11(=)
⋮		​	11(=)
2020-05-24		​ ​	12(+5%)
⋮		​ ​	12(=)
2020-05-27		​ ​	13(+5%)
⋮		​ ​	13(=)
2020-06-04		​	13(=)
⋮		​ ​	13(=)
2020-07-26		​	13(=)
⋮		​	13(=)
2020-07-27		​ ​	14(+7.7%)
⋮		​ ​	14(=)
2020-08-06		​	14(=)
Sources: Worldometers[10]

On 16 March, the first case in the territory was confirmed.[2][11] The first infected patient lived in the capital, Nuuk, and was placed in home isolation.

"Preparations have been initiated to cope with the new situation. It is important that citizens follow our recommendations now that the infection has reached our country," said Greenland's Prime Minister Kim Kielsen at a press conference, according to newspaper Sermitsiaq. All non-essential flights to and from Greenland, as well as domestic flights, are strongly advised against. Public gatherings of more than 100 people are discouraged and citizens returning from high-risk areas are recommended to self-isolate for two weeks.[12]

On 28 March, the government prohibited the sale of alcoholic drinks until 15 April in Greenland.[13]

As of 9 April, there had been 11 confirmed cases, all in Nuuk, all of whom had recovered, making Greenland the first affected territory in the world to become free of COVID-19 without any deaths.[1]

On 24 May, after a long period with no known cases, a person from Aasiaat was tested positive at entry into Greenland. It was the first known case outside Nuuk. The person had been in Denmark where he had had COVID-19 and fully recovered, and was tested negative before returning. It was presumed that the new positive test only was the result of residue from the person's earlier infection (as known from some other cases) and that there was no risk of infecting others, but as a precaution the person was placed in quarantine.[3] A similar but unrelated case was found in Ilulissat on 27 May.[4] After further negative tests of these two cases and a period in quarantine, Greenland was again considered free of COVID-19 on 4 June.[1]

See also

• COVID-19 pandemic in North America
• COVID-19 pandemic by country and territory

References

1. "Coronavirus-ip nutaap siaruarnera malinnaaffigiuk" (in Danish and Kalaallisut). Retrieved 8 April 2020.
2. Redaktionen (10 March 2020). "Corona-alarm afblæst - test var negativ". Sermitsiaq (in Danish). Retrieved 10 March 2020.
3. "Nyt tilfælde af corona opdaget i Aasiaat" (in Danish). Sermitsiaq. 24 May 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
4. "Coronasmitte opdaget i Ilulissat" (in Danish). Sermitsiaq. 27 May 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
5. Elsevier. "Novel Coronavirus Information Center". Elsevier Connect. Archived from the original on 30 January 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
6. Reynolds, Matt (4 March 2020). "What is coronavirus and how close is it to becoming a pandemic?". Wired UK. ISSN 1357-0978. Archived from the original on 5 March 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
7. "Crunching the numbers for coronavirus". Imperial News. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
8. "High consequence infectious diseases (HCID); Guidance and information about high consequence infectious diseases and their management in England". GOV.UK. Archived from the original on 3 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
9. "World Federation Of Societies of Anaesthesiologists – Coronavirus". www.wfsahq.org. Archived from the original on 12 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
10. "Total Coronavirus Cases in Greenland". worldometers. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
11. "Første coronatilfælde bekræftet i Grønland". DR (in Danish). Retrieved 16 March 2020.
12. "Greenland confirms first case of coronavirus". The Straits Times. 16 March 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
13. France-Presse, Agence (29 March 2020). "Alcohol sales banned in Greenland capital during lockdown". The Guardian.