Finland extends entry ban to February 9 amid rising cases of coronavirus across the globe

Amid the rising cases of coronavirus, Finland has extended its restrictions on entry from various countries, including Russia, until February 9. Finland’s interior ministry on January 7 said that as COVID-19 cases are growing globally, the county has decided to extend entry restrictions to prevent the spread further. Back in December, the Finnish government extended to January 12 its restrictions on entry from countries with an incidence of more than 25 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people in 14 days. 

Now, the ministry said, “On January 7, the government decided that the entry restrictions will be extended to February 9, 2021. The coronavirus pandemic is still growing globally and the number of infections is increasing in most countries faster than in Finland,” added that the exception for the neighbouring European Economic Area countries is still in force. 

Finland has confirmed over 37,500 cases of the deadly virus, including 576 fatalities. Meanwhile, Finland has begun vaccinations after Europe started its mass immunisation campaign. So far, COVID-19 vaccines have been administered to healthcare workers in Finland's five largest hospital districts of Helsinki, Turku, Tampere, Kuopio and Oulu. 

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European Commission approves Moderna vaccine 

While earlier the European Commission granted emergency use authorisation to Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the officials on Thursday also approved US-based pharmaceutical company Moderna’s Vaccine. EMA said that a "very large clinical" trial showed Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine to be 94.1 per cent effective. The EU agency said that the trial included 30,000 people between 18 to 94 years of age. The trial proved the vaccine is safe and effective and also showed the efficacy of 90.9% in people with chronic lung disease, heart disease, obesity, liver disease, diabetes, or HIV infection. Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine is administered in two doses, 28 days apart. 

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Europe on January 7 said that more efforts are required to deal with the alarming situation of COVID-19 pandemic with a drastic increase of new infections linked to the recently discovered variant of the novel coronavirus. While speaking at a press conference, WHO Europe’s regional director Hans Kluge called the present situation “a tipping point” in the course of the pandemic that has continued to tighten its grip even after more than a year it first originated in China. Europe is currently not only dealing with a surge in cases but also new strains of virus causing COVID-19 more easily. 

(With inputs from ANI) 

(Image: AP) 

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