I travel to Finland both for work and with my girlfriend, so far I don’t think there is anything wrong with that. Covid test on departure, check at airport, on arrival, on departure, practically always. So far so good, it is being done for the health of our citizens.
But suddenly someone decides to take advantage of it. In the happiest country in the world, the Covid test costs 250-300 euros, this is every trip, practically a tax that is quietly good for everyone.
The site I heard says the Covid test is free in the presence of symptoms. As is happening on my last trip to Helsinki, the last two days have been windy, so I found myself having a sore throat. Wind or Covid? Of course, during this time, even a sore knee refers to Covid, but a sore throat is almost a confirmation. Then I go for a run-in test, noting that I have symptoms.
This is where the fun / dramatic part begins. First, (in one of the most advanced countries in the world) they don’t ask you for an email, just a phone number. Why? Because this way you only get a text message saying if you are positive or negative, no emails to download. Of course, airlines don’t accept text messages, so you have to go to the clinic to get the printed version. Pretty weird, in an era when everything is online, you have to walk to the clinic.
When you arrive at the clinic, you will be charged € 302.00 for the printed test result !!!!!
Right, 302.00 euros.
We all (including the clinic staff) all agree that we are talking about legal robbery (not robbery). Even the airport staff is confused, as happened at the clinic, but in fact take it or leave it. “In the end, you decided to take the test at the clinic” (I’m told), but that’s not true, I just followed the instructions.
I’m not pretending to have the service for free, but I’m now wondering what kind of morale people have when they ask for € 300 for a towel. It is also kept in mind that governments are asking for the Covid test, so we are forced to do so.
It is said, for example, that a family is forced to travel, in addition to the price of a ticket, they have to pay every 300 euros, three people 900 euros. Is this a person? If I live in a country where corruption is a way of life, I could probably understand, but in a country of freedoms, this kind of behavior is definitely discriminatory, whether you pay or travel, a kind of legalized prison.
At the reception, I am told that those people who travel to work have a test paid for by the company, as if stealing from companies would be the right way to go. In Italy, in tests (and I don’t want to defend a country full of wrong things) a test in a private institution costs 30 euros, it’s hard to think that the same test can cost 10 times as much. I was just amazed at how everyone accepts such a wrong and inhumane practice.
I wonder how an immigrant family, or perhaps even a person traveling alone, can afford these prices. But how can this be accepted? Everyone I’ve talked to is ashamed, but because we’re in the happiest country in the world, probably even robbed legally, it’s part of luck. Who knows, possible.
Andrea Turri