Helsinki: Finland’s prime minister came under sustained criticism after it was revealed she stayed out dancing until the early hours of the weekend despite knowing she had been exposed to Covid-19.
Sanna Marin, 36, apologized after a gossip magazine published photos of her attending a Helsinki nightclub last weekend until almost four in the morning, hours after her Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto tested positive for coronavirus.
“My husband and I… had been out to eat, been shopping in town, seen friends and also spent time [enjoying] the evening and nightlife,” the Social Democrat leader wrote on Facebook.
She added that she was told by an official that the coronavirus guidelines did not require her to isolate, despite having been in contact with an infected person.
In Finland, infections are now at an all-time high, with 308 new Covid cases per 100,000 population in the last fortnight. The country has also recorded eight cases of the new ‘Omicron’ variant.
Marin, who became the world’s youngest prime minister when appointed in 2019, has previously been the target of criticism over parties at her official residence and social media posts in which she poses with friends or appears to promote fashion accessories.
