Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin has apologized for going to a nightclub after coming into close contact with a Covid-19 patient.
Sanna Marin went to a club in Helsinki last Saturday night, hours after the foreign minister was found to have tested positive for Covid.
It seems that those close to the Prime Minister told him that he did not need to isolate himself first, as he was fully vaccinated.
Later, a message was sent to Sanna Marin’s phone that it would still be good to isolate herself, but the Prime Minister did not see it.
Marin has been criticized for not thinking of isolating herself until she gets tested and negative.
The 36-year-old Social Democrat Finnish Prime Minister said that the message advising him to avoid social contact was sent to his work phone, whereas he left it at home on his way to the club.
Marin also announced that as soon as he saw the message on Sunday morning, he immediately had a Covid test and the result was negative.
Prime Minister Marin first defended himself, saying he had followed the advice given.
But on Monday, she wrote on Facebook that she needed to scrutinize the rules and act smarter.
apologized in parliament
According to the rules set by the government in Finland, a person with a full dose of vaccination is not required to self-isolate in cases where close Covid contact is understood.
However, close contacts are still advised to have a Covid test and to voluntarily avoid social environments until the result is negative.
According to the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomak, specially published rules for government ministers and their employees also recommend immediate self-isolation after contact.
Prime Minister Sanna Marin said in parliament today that she had not been told this rule. However, he apologized again, noting that he could not access this information and as a result he personally took responsibility for his actions.
Marin was the target of harsh criticism when pictures of her having fun at the club she went to with her friends were published in gossip magazines.
Seiska magazine reported that the Prime Minister reached out to eyewitnesses who said that he danced until 04:00 at the Butchers club in Helsinki.
Lawmakers from the opposition parties say Marin should immediately self-isolate and demonstrate “exemplary behavior” regardless of the rules.
National Coalition Party MP Mia Laiho accused Marin of acting “irresponsibly”.
When Marin was elected to the leadership of the center-left coalition consisting of four parties in 2019, he also became the youngest prime minister in the world.
Finland is recovering from the Covid epidemic relatively mildly than many European countries.
In the country with a population of 5.5 million, 196,000 people have fallen ill so far and 1384 people have died.
But since September, the number of cases has been steadily rising, and for weeks it has gone to the level of 1000 new cases per day.
So far, 8 patients with the Omicron variant, the last serious mutation of the virus, have been identified in the country.
Experts worry that this variant may be more contagious and more immune to the immune system.
