During negotiations on Wednesday, the government in Helsinki agreed to gradually reduce the restrictions. From February 14, restrictions on restaurants and bars will be relaxed and all restrictions on culture, sports and events will be lifted, Prime Minister Sanna Marin said. Nightclubs will remain closed for the time being.
Marin said there will be some time until February 14 to see how the situation develops with the Nordic partners in Denmark and Norway. Denmark lifted all corona restrictions on Tuesday, Norway relaxed a large part.
According to the Finnish broadcaster Yle, all restrictions were lifted on March 1st. According to government information, the number of new infections in the country is still high, but the number of corona intensive care patients has decreased significantly.
Switzerland: Decision should be made on February 16th
Switzerland is also planning to lift all protective measures soon. For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, quarantine will no longer apply to people who have been in contact with infected people. The government announced that the quarantine had become less important because of the very high number of infections. Anyone who is infected themselves must continue to isolate themselves. The government decided on Wednesday that the home office obligation will no longer apply with immediate effect.
She wants to make the final decision on ending all other measures on February 16 after consultation with the cantons. The government has made two proposals: Variant one provides for an end to almost all measures from February 17th, when the number of infections and hospital occupancy with Covid patients decrease. Infected people would then have to isolate themselves further. Variant two provides for a gradual withdrawal of the measures. The 2G rule in restaurants would fall first, and the mask requirement in public transport would come last. On February 16, a decision will also be made as to whether the obligation to test for unvaccinated or recovered people and the collection of contact details will be lifted upon entry.
The Swiss Federal Office of Public Health reported a good 41,000 new corona cases within 24 hours on Wednesday. The 14-day incidence, which indicates how many new infections there were per 100,000 inhabitants within 14 days, was 5,354. In Austria, the authorities gave a seven-day incidence of 2,645.
Source: Nachrichten
