The government of Finland has from Monday, February 14, allowed restaurants and bars to work longer hours and hopes to lift other rules related to epidemiological safety from March, Finnish public broadcaster YLE reports.
From Monday, bars and restaurants in the Nordic country will be permitted to work until midnight and serve alcoholic drinks until 11 pm. As to the number of customers, bars may still only allow in half of the normal customer capacity, while restaurants may seat 75% of capacity.
Read also: Government of Estonia says impossible to end certificate rule due to high hospitalisations
Earlier in Finland, bars were required to close at 6 pm and the restaurants could remain open until 9 pm. The new eased restrictions on catering businesses will remain in force until the turn of the month.
Signalling more changes, Prime Minister Sanna Marin stated on Sunday, February 13, that restrictions could be completely removed in March, given the pandemic situation permits it. «We’re trying to dismantle the restrictions. Tomorrow the restaurant restrictions will be eased, and hopefully at the turn of the month we can remove them completely,» the Social Democrat leader explained to YLE. Use of the digital Covid-19 certificate has been suspended until at least the end of February in Finland, the public broadcaster reports.
Finland allows restaurants to stay open longer, other rules could be lifted in March
