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Barely three months ago Finland had the lowest average Covid-19 infections and deaths in Europe and had managed to contain local outbreaks while meeting some of the continent’s most relaxed restrictions.
But now it faces a new wave – and the government has changed course.
On Monday, the Finnish government declared a state of emergency due to a surge in cases which it attributed in part to the spread of new variants.
The country will enter a three-week lockdown on March 8, according to Prime Minister Sanna Marin.
In a statement, the government said:
“The number and incidence of Covid-19 cases in Finland have increased very rapidly since the beginning of February 2021. The number of infections caused by new viral variants has clearly increased, which could further accelerate the epidemic. and put tremendous pressure on hospitals and healthcare capacity if we fail to reduce the number of infections. “
The strictest restrictions were already introduced in seven hospital districts last Thursday, including the capital, Helsinki.
Across the border Norway, Officials are also tightening restrictions amid a spate of cases in the capital that the Oslo city council called “a consequence of importing mutated variants of the coronavirus.”
The new virus variants spread faster than the previous variants, “Oslo city councilor Raymond Johansen said in a statement on Sunday.
“This means that we now need to strengthen infection control measures in line with recommendations from national health authorities.
From Tuesday to March 15, new measures in Oslo include: closing all restaurants, except take-out; and the closure of all stores except pharmacies and grocery stores and liquor stores.
From Monday, Oslo high school students will stay at home and on Wednesday all schools will be run with a combination of traditional and virtual learning.
The board added that it was introducing the mass test of students with saliva samples from March 8, and increasing the testing of all teachers.
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