Finland Tells Bars to Stop Alcohol Sales at 5 p.m. as Covid Spreads

An electric scooter sits parked outside the El Fant cafe and wine bar in the historical centre of Helsinki, Finland, on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020. Finnish household debt has doubled in the past two decades against a backdrop of falling interest rates and the gradual obsolescence of cash as a form of payment. , Bloomberg

Leo Laikola, Bloomberg News

Nov 25, 2021

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(Bloomberg) -- Finland is set to tighten controls on restaurants and bars to curtail the spread of the coronavirus as the Nordic country’s intensive care units fill up. 

The government is preparing to stop alcohol sales after 5 p.m. in bars and restaurants, telling them to close latest at 6 p.m., unless the establishments require patrons to provide a Covid certificate, Krista Kiuru, minister of family affairs and social services, said on Thursday. Cafes and fast-food restaurants could operate without requiring the corona passport, she said at a press conference in Helsinki.

The government is also preparing to decide whether vaccinations will be given to kids aged 5 to 11 following the European Union’s drugs regulator backing the use of the Covid-19 vaccine made by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE for younger school-age children.

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