Prime Minister FinlandSanna Marin has stirred up a political storm in the Scandinavian country. The 36-year-old Social Democratic lawmaker apologized Wednesday after various local media outlets reported that the president went out to celebrate last weekend, hours after her foreign minister, ecologist Pekka Haavisto, tested positive for the coronavirus. Marin explained to several journalists in Parliament that while he was in a nightclub he received two text messages recommending that he isolate himself, but that he did not see them until the next day because he left his professional cell phone at home.

“I should have had a better judgment. I am very sorry that I did not understand that I should have isolated myself,” Marin apologized, according to Finnish Public Television (Yle). The Prime Minister met with Haavisto last Friday. On Saturday night, he went to a nightclub in central Helsinki after learning that the foreign minister had tested positive. The Prime Minister explained that prior to her departure her Foreign Minister, Henrik Habajarvi, had informed her that she should not be isolated or take any special measures, as she had been fully vaccinated for months. However, soon after, he received two text messages from the Ministry of Health advising him to avoid dealing with people as much as possible. The Finnish authorities impose only mandatory quarantine For citizens who do not have a complete immunization schedule yet and have been in close contact with someone who has a positive immunization result.

Two witnesses were killed Finnish magazine Stop They noted that Marin arrived at the disco on Saturday night and was dancing until 4 in the morning. The social democratic activist said Wednesday that when she saw the messages on the phone on Sunday morning, she immediately went for a test that came back negative.

Many opposition members criticized Marine, who in December 2019 became a member The youngest woman in the world to head a government. Rep. Mia Laihu (National Coalition, centre-right), spokesman for the Social Affairs and Health Committee, called the president’s behavior “totally irresponsible,” according to the newspaper. Helsingin Sanomat newspaper.

Finland (5.5 million people) is one of the least affected European countries coronavirus pandemic. The northern state has recorded nearly 200,000 infections and 1,384 deaths from COVID-19, making it the third country on the continent with the fewest deaths. per person (behind Iceland and Norway). However, with nearly 75% of the population fully vaccinated, there has been a spike in infections in recent weeks, with more than 1,000 positive results daily, numbers not reached in Finland during the entire health crisis.

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