Finland has reduced the duration of COVID quarantine from 10 to 5 days in most cases, the public health service announced today.
However, according to the announcement, doctors will again be able to give instructions for a longer quarantine, up to 10 days, if necessary.
With the Omicron variant, "the progression of the infection has accelerated, so the ten-day quarantine period is no longer justified as before," Otto Helve, chief physician of the THL public health service, told reporters.
Finland reports 53.600 new COVID cases in one week, up more than 27% from a week earlier, but authorities say the numbers are no longer reliable due to a lack of testing capabilities due to the rapid spread of the variant Omicron in the country. The total number of dead due to the pandemic in the country exceeds 1.700.
The need for intensive care units remains stable, THL said, while the number of patients treated has doubled to 690 in two weeks.
This week, local authorities began reacting to the government's strategy for testing and tracking, saying it was impossible to implement amid rising cases.
Members of the Finnish government are expected to meet today to discuss whether all restaurants in the country will eventually be ordered to close completely.
Currently, the sale of alcohol in restaurants stops at 5 pm and all restaurants close at 6 pm.
The public health service has expressed a modest hope that the Omicron wave will peak about a month before de-escalation begins.
Source: RES-EAP