Govt reintroduces extensive border controls from Monday

The government on Thursday decided to reintroduce entry restrictions for citizens of all European countries except the Vatican from next Monday, as the coronavirus situation is worsening both in the country and abroad, reported Xinhua.

A government press release issued on Thursday accounted for the decision, citing the differences between the COVID-19 situation in Finland and the rest of Europe and by the increasing number of infections within its borders.

The government also decided to reduce the official or voluntary quarantine time for those entering the country from 14 days to ten. Workers commuting to and from Estonia and Sweden are exempted from the quarantine rule, according to the press release.

The coronavirus infection rate in Finland has now risen to 34.1 cases per 100,000 inhabitants within two weeks, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) said, adding that 60 percent of the new cases confirmed last week could not be traced to a source. In Uusimaa province, which includes the capital Helsinki, the failure rate of traces is over 80 percent.

Tuija Kumpulainen, head of the Department for Safety, Security and Health at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, said at a press conference that the government does not plan to isolate provinces or block domestic travel. "That would require emergency powers legislation, and there has been no talk about bringing it back," she said.

As of Thursday, restaurants throughout Finland have to close at 1 a.m. and stop serving alcohol at 12 midnight. A 10 p.m. closing time will be imposed in areas of acceleration on Sunday, said Krista Kiuru, Minister of Family Affairs and Social Services, on Wednesday. A formal decree on this is expected to be published on Friday.

Also on Thursday, night club and restaurant owners and employees staged a demonstration in downtown Helsinki to protest against their loss of livelihood. Helsinki's Deputy Mayor Nasima Razmyar said she sympathized with their cause and asked the protesters to share ideas on how the catering and events industry could be saved.

To bring life back to normal, countries such as the United Kingdom, China, Russia and the United States are racing against time to develop coronavirus vaccines.