0 >Finnish premier Sanna Marin (left) with Kaja Kallas in Helsinki last week. Source: Office of the Prime Minister of Finland.
Estonia s northern neighbor, Finland, has announced a lock-down for next month amid rising COVID-19 rates, the English-language portal of public broadcaster Yle reports. The move will affect the large number of Estonian citizens and residents who live and/or commute to work there.
Speaking at a press conference Thursday morning, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said that a three-week closure of pubs, bars and restaurants would run March 8-22, Yle reports.
Marin said that Finland s situation had worsened in recent weeks, particularly as a result of the spread of a highly-infectious U.K. variant, which makes up around 75 percent of currently reported cases: Marin added that existing restrictions were not sufficient to contain the spread, with parts of the country moving to the second-tier level of the government s three-tier COVID-19
4 photos
Photo: Press conference during official Kaja Kallas official visit with Sanna Marin in Helsinki. Author: Office of the Prime Minister of Finland
Finland may relax entry to Estonians if mandatory coronavirus testing at the border is introduced, Finnish prime minister Sanna Marin said on Friday.
Speaking at a press conference with Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas (Reform), who was on her first official visit to Finland - or indeed anywhere else- as premier, Marin said that a bill to install obligatory COVID-19 tests at Finland s borders had been tabled at the
Edustkuntatalo Thursday.
Currently, Finland s border is closed to everyone except essential workers which has caused problems for the large number of Estonian citizens and residents who commute between the two countries.
Outgoing foreign minister Urmas Reinsalu (Isamaa) has criticized a move by the government of Estonia s northern neighbor, Finland, in reinstating tougher border restrictions similar to those imposed in spring last year.
The Finnish border restriction comes amid fears of more potent strains of the COVID-19 virus entering the country.
The new rules, which enter into force next Wednesday and remain in place for a month, will mean only key workers providing essential services can enter the country. Estonian citizens and residents make up a significant proportion of Finland s workforce, meaning the border closure will have a major effect on those living and working in Finland, as well as in Estonia.
Finland's interior ministry plans to close the country's borders to all but the most essential foreign workers, Finnish media reports, as a safeguard against more virulent strains of the coronavirus finding their way into the country, including those reported in the media as being identified in the United Kingdom and South Africa.