COVID-19 surge casts shadow over tourism in Finnish Lapland
While relatively few infection cases so far involve foreign tourists, tourism operators are concerned about the impact tougher measures may have on the sector.
Finnish Lapland is seeing its highest coronavirus infection rates since the start of the pandemic.
Last week, a total of 276 infections were diagnosed in the regional hospital district, 46 of which were among foreign tourists. The proportion of tourists among all infections in Lapland rose from 3.5 percent to 16.5 percent in a week, according to Markku Broas, chief infectious diseases physician for the Lapland Hospital District.
Meanwhile, 61 infections were diagnosed in the Länsi-Pohja Hospital District last week, the area to the immediate southwest of Lapland, abutting the border with Sweden. So far there have been few among foreign tourists. Instead, cross-border shoppers are being diagnosed with the infection “all the time,” says Jyri J. Taskila, the district’s chief medical officer.
On the other hand, the need for hospital care has replaced infection rates as a key indicator of the severity of the pandemic. That too has increased.
“We can’t talk about capacity overload yet. We currently have five patients in hospital, having previously had one or none at all. There have been one or two patients in intensive care recently,” relates Broas.
In the Länsi-Pohja Hospital District, there were seven patients in hospital care as of Monday. A week ago, there were five.
The Omicron variant has not yet been detected in Lapland. However, the delay in confirming cases is one to two weeks. For example, last week’s tests in the the Länsi-Pohja district have not yet been analysed for the variant.
Other means before emergency brake
A surge in the number of infections, and the spread of the Omicron variant are creating pressure for the government to impose its so-called emergency brake.
Pasi Pohjola, strategy director of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, has estimated that almost all the criteria for the national emergency braking mechanism were already met over the past weekend.
According to Yle’s sources, changes in border practices have been under discussion in the government’s ministerial working group. This could mean that the Covid passport alone would not be sufficient for a person to enter the country, but each incoming passenger would be required to provide evidence of two negative Covid test results as well.
In Lapland’s tourism sector, the situation is being monitored with concern. For example, the winter tourist season at Lapland Hotels has got off to a good start and the hotel booking situation comparable to the record level seen in 2019.
