The number of lab-confirmed coronavirus infections in Helsinki linked to trips to the Russian city of St. Petersburg has risen to 140, with Helsinki and Uusimaa hospital district (HUS) chief physician Timo Lukkarinen warning that the number is likely to continue to increase.
"The figures will rise because some of those exposed will also become infected. What is critical now is whether these exposed people have avoided social contact," Lukkarinen said.
Health agency THL's Director of Health Security Mika Salminen told Yle on Saturday that infections linked to travel to St. Petersburg are being diagnosed over Finland.
"Helsinki clearly has the most infections," Lukkarinen added.
Last Tuesday, about 800 people were allowed to enter Finland at the Vaalimaa border crossing without undergoing a coronavirus test or health checkup.
Authorities made an exception to the rule about testing as traffic was heavily congested at the border crossing, as hundreds of football fans returned from watching Finland play Belgium in the European Championship finals in St. Petersburg on Monday evening.
Most of the latest infections have been detected in people who took a test after arriving back into Finland.
THL has urged all people who travelled into the country from St. Petersburg earlier this week to undergo a coronavirus test as soon as possible.
"Everyone who has travelled on a bus or in a minivan could have been exposed. People need to apply for a coronavirus test as early as this week, and not wait until next week," Salmimen said.
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP) also made an appeal for people to apply for a coronavirus test.
"It's important that every single person [who arrived] be tested. Then possible cases will be caught and the disease cannot spread," Marin said.
