Starting this weekend, the Helsinki-Vantaa airport will require all travellers arriving in the country who do not have sufficient evidence of a negative coronavirus test result to undergo screening.
Finnish law prohibits authorities from demanding certificates or documentation related to coronavirus tests from travellers coming into the country. They may, however, insist on them taking a test at the airport.
The mass testing is a means of detecting the new variants of the virus in a timely manner and preventing them from spreading within the country.
In an interview with MTV, Taneli Puumalainen, Head of the Infectious Diseases Control and Vaccines Unit at the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), stated that 11 per cent of coronavirus infections detected in Finland during Christmas originated outside the country and could be traced to visiting foreigners or Finns who had travelled abroad.
Based on the assumption that vaccinations will progress at a steady pace through Spring, the parliament will discuss amending the Communicable Diseases Act next week, so that authorities in Finland may begin requesting travellers for proof that they have been vaccinated against the virus.
HT
