Marin admits government was wrong not to quarantine Finnish tourists

Prime Minister Sanna Marin admitted during parliamentary Question time that the quarantine instructions have not been clear enough for the passengers who arrive at airports.

On Thursday, Riikka Purra, Finns Party, was concerned that passengers arriving at Helsinki-Vantaa airport were not met by health authorities and people traveling from high-risk areas even continued freely to their homes on public transport, possibly exposing other citizens to the virus.

"This activity spreads the virus," Purra criticized.

According to Marin, the situation has been addressed and guidance has been improved.

Sari Multala, National Coalition Party, also wanted to know how it was possible that the government did not provide better guidance to the airport and port operators in time and wanted to ensure that the situation was remedied in the future. 

"We will do our best to save lives"

Marin stated that the guidance should have been clearer in the past and that there were shortcomings in the guidance. She said, “I cannot say that the government will be perfectly successful in all its activities. We live in uncertainty everyday. I can't promise 100% success but we will do our best to bring the disease under control and save lives.”

Pia Kauma, National Coalition Party, asked whether even stricter restrictions on movement could be expected, similar to those in France and Spain.

Marin answered that the crisis has shown that there is a degree of rigidity in Finnish legislation that is not capable of resolving the situation.

She said, “We have a number of locks behind the introduction of different clauses. This is understandable because it interferes with people's fundamental rights.”