Finland announces a state of emergency as COVID-19 cases continue to rise.

Finland announced a 3-week lockdown and state of emergency, similar to spring 2020, starting on March 8th. Cases continue to rise, as in the past 14 days there have been over 7000 new cases.

The COVID-19 pandemic is hitting Finland harder than expected. Due to this, Finland Is going into a lockdown that is ending on March 28th. This means that in areas where the epidemic is in a spreading stage all restaurants will be closed and only takeaway is allowed. Most teaching is online and a strong recommendation to work from home is in place all over the country.

Finland has not had many restrictions but more so recommendations in place since the constitution does not allow any kind of restrictions on restaurants or people moving around to be put in place without announcing a state of emergency.

Leena Romppainen, the Senior Counsel of the Tax department at law firm Castrén & Snellman said: “I think the restrictions are a good idea, even though they affect me and my loved ones. As for the timing, I think we are a bit late. Especially near the capital, the numbers are so high, I wonder if the only reason it took so long for restrictions to come in place so that people can have a nice ski-break?”

The next three weeks are crucial to Finland, as the incidence rate is higher than ever and the number of patients in hospitals is rising too.

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