Coronavirus: Finland will reduce the opening hours of restaurants and bars

Finland will reduce restaurant opening hours to stem the rise in COVID-19 cases and the spread of the new Omicron strain, the government announced today.

Starting on Christmas Eve, the bars will stop serving alcohol at 9 pm and will close at 10 pm. From December 28 onwards, they will be able to serve alcohol until 5 pm. and will close at 6 p.m. while restaurants at 8 p.m., according to a government announcement. Bars will also be able to accept only half of their maximum capacity in customers and restaurants at 75%.

The government has also decided that students will return to distance learning after the Christmas holidays, while foreign visitors arriving in the country will have to show a COVID-19 vaccination or recovery certificate and a recent negative test result.

Finland has so far allowed restaurants and venues to circumvent COVID-19 restrictions based on vaccination certificates, COVID-19 recovery certificates or a recent negative test.

The government has also proposed that the COVID-19 certification be mandatory for healthcare professionals working with people at risk for serious diseases due to impaired immunity and that self-tests be exempted from value added tax in order to be more economical.

While Finland remains among the least affected countries by the pandemic, the infection rate has been rising in recent weeks.

Last week, the country of 5.5 million people recorded about 13,400 new cases compared to a week earlier when the number of infections reached 10,600, according to the Finnish Institute of Health. About 83.3% of residents 12 years of age and older have received two doses of the vaccine.

SOURCE: AMPE