New coronavirus measures in Finland, restrictions over New Year's Eve

People in Finland are in for a quieter New Year's Eve after the government in Helsinki tightened the coronavirus restrictions and thereby also the possibilities to celebrate the New Year in pubs.

As of Christmas, pubs will have to close at 10 pm, and as of December 28 at 6 pm in the case of pubs and at 8 pm in the case of restaurants. Alcohol may then only be served until 5 pm.

Bars and nightclubs may only be filled to half capacity, restaurants at least up to 75 per cent.

These and other measures were announced by Prime Minister Sanna Marin late on Tuesday evening after long negotiations. All this applies provisionally until mid-January.

With this, the Finns want to slow down the spread of coronavirus and thus buy time to be able to administer more booster vaccinations against Covid-19.

Measures are also being tightened at the border: from December 28, all entrants without a Finnish passport, permanent residence in the country or an urgent reason for entry will have to show a negative test result no more than 48 hours old, in addition to vaccination or recovery.