Finland to lift all Covid curbs in Feb: PM Sanna Marin

Helsinki, Feb 1: Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin announced that the country is working to lift all Covid-19-related restrictions in February. Marin's announcement came at a meeting with the Finnish Association of Editors, just two days after Finland entered its third pandemic year, reports Xinhua news agency.

"The restrictions should be lifted during February, as the tolerance of the citizens has been tested for a long time," she told Finnish daily Ilta-Samomat. Marin said that her government will negotiate its strategy for easing pandemic measures on Wednesday. However, Finnish health experts expressed concern.

"Some kind of restraint must be maintained here," said Mika Valtonen, executive physician at Turku University Clinic (TYKS). Valtonen said that there are still 46 coronary patients in intensive care as of Monday, which is almost 20 per cent of the entire ICU capacity in Finland. One of the factors underlying moves to ease restrictions is that many residents have not been adhering to them, he said, due in part to their lack of consistency.

Starting Tuesday, restrictions in restaurants in Finland will be eased, and gyms and swimming pools re-opened. Border checks on passenger traffic between Finland and the European Union and Schengen countries will also end on Tuesday. However, restrictions on external border traffic will remain in place until February 14.