Instead, nightclubs will remain closed until March 1, when all restrictions on restaurants and bars will be lifted, Prime Minister Sanna Marin said at a press conference.

This Wednesday, the northern country, with a population of 5.5 million, passed half a million cases of Covid-19, while recording more than 2,000 coronavirus-related deaths since the pandemic began.

Although Finland has one of the lowest infection rates in the European Union (EU), the omicron variant has caused a significant increase in infections over the past month, adding to the authorities’ fears of a possible saturation of the health system.

But the language used by the prime minister on Wednesday sounded reassuring, noting that this burden appeared to be stable, as well as that the restrictions were no longer “essential” and should be lifted.

On Tuesday, Denmark became the first country in the European Union to lift nearly all of its Covid-19 restrictions. This was followed later in the day by neighboring Norway, a country whose Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, has indicated that society must learn to “live with” the coronavirus.

“Finland is about two weeks behind in terms of epidemiological developments in other countries,” Sanna Marin said, adding that the February 14 date will allow Finnish authorities to know how the lifting of restrictions will develop in Denmark and Norway.