The mayor of Vantaa, home to Finland’s busiest airport, has criticized the government’s plan to extend the border restrictions related to the coronavirus until the end of the year.
The government proposed on Tuesday that the current entry restrictions must be kept in place until the end of December.
Mayor Ritva Viljanen said there is a risk as passenger numbers increase "chaos" Due to medical examinations of international passengers arriving at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport.
"There is not enough space [required Covid] checks at the airport. There are no facilities at the airport and there will be complete chaos," he said.
The number of passengers at the airport is expected to double from the current level by the end of the year. According to Viljanen, the plant is already congested due to inspections.
In early September, it was reported that the airport had intermittent peak times that have not been seen for a long time.
The City of Vantaa is responsible for carrying out coronavirus operations at the airport and spends approximately one million euros a week on these operations.
Tighter than the EU
Viljanen said that the government’s decision to maintain the border restrictions also became costly for the whole of Finland, adding that due to the country’s expanded vaccination coverage, it was no longer necessary to check the Covid status of each entry from abroad.
He said that Finland’s border policy had deviated from practices throughout Europe, adding that an EU-wide Covid border policy should have been introduced now. The Finnish country Covid risk assessment is also stricter than recommended by the EU.
Viljanen said that Vantaa would need health care workers to perform other tasks in the city in addition to monitoring arriving passengers.
Generally, other European countries check passenger vaccination certificates. In Finland, however, health authorities must interview every incoming passenger and examine their documents.
"If a person arrives from a country with a particularly high risk, targeted checks will, of course, be carried out, but otherwise random checks will be sufficient," Viljanen said.
Source: The Nordic Page