After getting into intimate touch with a Covid-19 case, Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin apologised for missing out result text and going out for clubbing.
Sanna Marin went out on Saturday night in Helsinki, hours after her foreign minister tested positive.
She was informed she didn’t need to isolate because she’d been properly vaccinated, but she later missed a text telling her she should. Critics questioned her decision to wait till the test results were negative before isolating.
The text message, which instructed her to avoid social interaction, was sent to her work phone, which she had left at home, according to the Social Democratic prime minister.
She obtained a Covid test as soon as she saw the text on Sunday, and the result was negative.
Ms Marin first justified her conduct, claiming that she had acted on the advice of her secretary of state, who had told her about the Covid scandal.
Ms Marin, though, claimed in a Facebook post on Monday that she should have double-checked the instructions and used greater judgment.
“I apologise for not realising that I had to do that,” she added.
Olen tullut lauantai-iltana informoiduksi ministeri Haaviston koronatartunnasta ja samalla saanut arvion, ettei erityistoimille ole tarvetta. Tässä yhteydessä en saanut ohjeistusta välttää kontakteja.
— Sanna Marin (@MarinSanna) December 5, 2021
Anyone who has been double-jabbed in Finland does not need to isolate if they come into contact with a positive case, according to Covid standards.
However, the guidelines advise people to avoid social contact willingly while waiting for a Covid test.
According to Finland’s Helsingin Sanomat newspaper, separate guidelines for government ministers and staff urge avoiding social contact soon after exposure.
Ms Marin told reporters in parliament on Wednesday that she had not been given this information. She admitted that she was personally responsible for the lack of knowledge and apologised once more for her conduct.
Ms Marin has been chastised after images of her attending a Helsinki nightclub with friends were published in a gossip magazine on Saturday.
Witnesses who saw her dancing at the Butchers club, where she stayed until 4:00 a.m., were interviewed by the Seiska magazine.
Ms Marin, according to opposition lawmakers, should have set a positive example by intentionally isolating herself rather than going clubbing. Ms Marin was “irresponsible,” according to Mia Laiho, a National Coalition Party MP.
Turvallisuusjohtajan antama ohjeistus valtioneuvostoa koskevista varotoimenpiteistä tavoitti minut vasta sunnuntaina, jolloin olen välittömästi alkanut noudattaa niitä ja heti varannut myös ensimmäisen koronatestiajan.
— Sanna Marin (@MarinSanna) December 5, 2021
When she was chosen to lead a center-left coalition with four other parties in 2019, Ms Marin became the world’s youngest prime minister.
During the Covid epidemic, Finland fared better than most of its European partners, with 196,000 cases and 1,384 deaths.
However, infections have been steadily increasing since September, with daily increases of over 1,000 for weeks.
In addition, the country has eight cases of the novel Omicron form, which specialists think is more transmissible and may elude Covid immunity.
