Government ministers have unanimously called for some restrictions on the coronavirus to be eased.
On Twitter on Tuesday, Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP) said it wanted the government to speed up the process of reintroducing low-risk sporting and cultural events using the Covid Passport.
On Wednesday, government ministers followed the example of the prime minister, who has said the current restrictions would be lifted sooner than expected.
The Minister of Education called for the restrictions to be eased Li Andersson (left), Vice-President of the Greens Iiris Suomela, Minister of the Environment Emma Kari (green), Minister of Science and Culture Antti Kurvinen, Minister of Justice Anna-Maja Henriksson (SPP) and the Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä.
Lintilä told Yle that the outlook for the epidemic was such that restrictions could be lifted.
"It would be very difficult to understand a situation in which some sectors, such as gyms, would be exempt from restrictions and food restaurants would have to stay closed. Of course, decisions on the disease situation need to be made, but current data and forecasts suggest that the conditions for continuing the restrictions are questionable," Lintila said.
According to the Minister of Economic Affairs, the restriction should be lifted if they are no longer needed and proportionate to the current situation. He suggested that restaurants that primarily serve food should be open until 11 p.m., and the last drink call an hour earlier. Currently, restaurants are closed at 6pm and alcohol at 5pm.
Lintilä said he was unsure when the government would deal with the restriction plans, but decisions must be made quickly because of the time it takes to implement them. He added that when board members discuss the issue, they should also consider reverting to the use of Covid passports.
Capital cases declining
On tuesday Asko Järvinen, The Chief Physician of Infectious Diseases of the Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District (HUS) said the epidemic has peaked in the Helsinki metropolitan area and that new cases of Covid in the area are expected to decline during February.
On Wednesday, the acting HUS. managing director Markku Mäkijärvi, said the reason for easing the restrictions is that the number of cases in the HUS area is starting to decrease.
However, he acknowledged that there are still a large number of people receiving Covid in hospitals in the area and that the treatment of patients with non-urgent medical problems was still below normal due to the situation.
"We now know that if a person becomes seriously ill with Covid’s disease and is hospitalized, it occurs in about one to two weeks from the date of infection. Now that the number of Covid patients in hospital has started to decline, it can be implicitly concluded that the peak in new cases was about two weeks ago," Mäkijärvi explained.
On the timeline, act. The CEO noted that the restrictions need to be relaxed slowly and gradually, while monitoring their effects for a couple of weeks during the dismantling, adding that removing the restrictions too quickly poses unnecessary risks.
Järvinen, chief physician of infectious diseases at HUS, said on Tuesday that new cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus have not yet reached their peak elsewhere in the country.
"According to some international forecasts, Omicron’s peak will be in about three or five weeks." He said, adding that although the spread of the virus may slow in February, it may take longer than elsewhere in Finland, depending on when the variant arrived in different areas.