By Nickie Louise
Even as covid infections hit a record high, Denmark, one of the most vaccinated in the world, announced last week it will end all virus restrictions and reclassify Covid-19 as a disease that no longer poses a threat to society. In a statement, Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the Nordic country won’t extend the pandemic measures beyond today, January 31.
Now domino effect. Today, Finland is the latest country to end all covid-19 restrictions. In a statement on Monday, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said the Scandinavian country will end all COVID-19 restrictions next month, AP reported. Finland now joins England, Ireland, and Denmark in ending all covid restrictions
Also on Monday, Finland also ended the border controls at the internal borders between Finland and the other Schengen countries. The initial restriction was introduced at the end of December to slow down the spread of the omicron variant.
Marin’s announcement came just two days after Finland entered its third pandemic year. At a meeting with the Finnish Association of Editors, Marin told Finnish daily Ilta-Samomat, Marin said:
“The restrictions should be lifted during February, as the tolerance of the citizens has been tested for a long time.”
She added that her government will negotiate the strategy for easing pandemic measures on Wednesday. However, some Finnish health experts expressed concern. Mika Valtonen, an executive physician at Turku University Clinic (TYKS) said that “some kind of restraint must be maintained.”
Valtonen added that there are still 46 coronary patients in intensive care in Finland as of Monday, which is almost 20 percent of the entire intensive care capacity in Finland.
Meanwhile in Denmark, the covid restrictions introduced in July were removed 10 weeks later after a successful vaccination drive. Danes now enjoy free access to restaurants, cafes, museums, and nightclubs, while mask use is no longer mandatory.
