On Monday 13 July, Finland reopened its borders to 28 more countries which in the past weeks recorded low levels of coronavirus infections. And it did so on a day in which Finnish health authorities reported only 16 new cases and zero deaths.
To date, Finland has registered 7,295 infections and 329 deaths associated with the Covid-19 disease.
Government said that, as a general rule, travel will be allowed for people from countries with an infection rate of up to 8 per 100,000 inhabitants during the previous two weeks.
As the government had announced on 10 July, the Finnish borders were reopened on Monday 13 July, but only for a very limited number of countries.
Schengen and Nordic countries
In the list there are 12 countries belonging to the Schengen zone: Austria, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Liechtenstein, Malta, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland. People from other European states such as Andorra, Cyprus, Republic of Ireland, San Marino and the Vatican are also allowed.
In addition, on 15 June Finland had already lifted restrictions on non-essential travel for residents of Norway, Denmark, Iceland and the three Baltic republics (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania). Neighbouring Sweden which is by far the Nordic country worst hit by the pandemic, is not yet on the list.
Border controls and travel restrictions will also continue in force for some major touristic destinations for Finns, such as Portugal, Spain, France, Croatia and Great Britain. But work-related and other essential travel to and from these countries is permitted.
Third countries
On 30 June, the Council of the European Union approved a recommendation (‘green list’) on the lifting of restrictions on border traffic for non-EU countries, also known as third countries.
Finland will allow work-related and other necessary travel from Algeria, Australia, Georgia, Japan, New Zealand, Rwanda, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, Uruguay and China, all included in the so-called 'green list'. Finland's residents can also travel to these countries without the need to self-quarantine on their return.
Nationals of other countries in the 'green list', where the number of infections exceeds the stated criterion (for example Canada, Montenegro, Morocco and Serbia), will have to wait.
No deaths in the past 24 hours
No deaths associated with the Covid-19 disease were reported in Finland the past 24 hours. So far, the death toll in the country is 329, according to the figures published by the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).
Source: THL.
On Monday, the official number of patients hospitalized due to coronavirus nationwide was 8. Of them, 1 was admitted to an intensive care unit.
According to a preliminary estimate by THL, around 6,800 people may have already recovered from the disease, which is around 90% of the reported cases.
To date, Finnish laboratories have taken samples from approximately 278,800 people.
