Saturday. 20.04.2024

The Finnish police are investigating three alleged crimes against public health committed in Lapland by people who have broken the confinement rules after testing positive for Covid-19. One of them even forged a health document.

According to a press release from the Lapland Police Department, the three cases would have occurred in the municipality of Kittilä, one of the most affected in the region (with Levi) due to a high incidence of coronavirus cases.

According to police information, two of the cases were reported to the police from the Kittilä health center.

In the first of them, the police were informed that a person who had tested positive for coronavirus had violated the confinement order to go to their workplace. This case was reported on 12 March.

In the second complaint, the police were informed of the case of a person who had been diagnosed with the disease and who had been visiting a store as a customer and had been seen also in another municipality.

The third criminal report was registered on 22 March. According to the complainant, a worker who had received a positive coronavirus test result had forged the document and sent a negative result to their employer. 

The employer realized that the certificate was forged and reported it to the police.

Five criminal reports during pandemic

The police are investigating these cases as crimes against public health and, in one case, as an alleged crime of forgery.

A total of five similar criminal reports have been registered in the Lapland region (Enontekiö, Kittilä, Kolari and Muonio municipalities) since the pandemic started. 

The other two previous complaints, both registered in 2020, did not lead to any prosecution and were shelved.

Police investigate alleged health crimes for skipping Covid isolation