Australian tourist, 36, dies in Iceland from coronavirus – as his grieving wife who also has the deadly illness is put in isolation
- Australian tourist died shortly after presenting to a medical clinic in Húsavík
- His wife tested positive to the coronavirus and is in isolation, authorities said
- Authorities are still investigating his cause of death as symptoms not typical
- Do you know more? Email tips@dailymail.com
- Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?
An Australian tourist, 36, who tested positive to the coronavirus has died in a remote town in Iceland.
The man died shortly after presenting to a medical clinic in Húsavík, in the nation’s north, local media reported.
His grieving wife remains in isolation after also testing positive to COVID-19, authorities said.
The Australian man died in the town of Husavik, in the remote north of Iceland
Iceland is increasingly a tourist destination and Húsavík is considered the ‘whale watching capital’ of the country (stock image, above)
Authorities are still investigating the man’s cause of death.
‘Health officials here don’t think that the virus killed him, even though he was infected,’ local journalist Johann Bjarni Kolbeinsson, from RUV, told Daily Mail Australia.
‘But they are still looking into it.’
Officials said the man’s symptoms were not typical for COVID-19.
Clinic staff who came into contact with the man are being quarantined, Iceland Review reported, and the clinic itself is being disinfected.
The country, which has increasingly become a tourist destination in recent years, has reported 330 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
The tourists were in Husavik, a town of about 2,307 people in the nation’s north
The stunning Godafoss waterfalls in the nation’s north are a common stop for tourists
Like Australia and the UK, the Icelandic government has announced restrictions on public events and gatherings due to the pandemic.
Shaky Bay, which Húsavík sits on, is known as the country’s ‘whale capital’ and is a popular location for adventurous sight-seers.
The Icelandic Consulate in Sydney and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade were approached for comment.
For the first time in history, the Australian government this week issued advice urging the country’s nationals not to travel.
Australia’s death toll for the disease is seven as of Friday morning, after an 81-year-old New South Wales woman died last night.