The Finnish authorities have announced that starting from September 20, unvaccinated travellers arriving from Singapore will not be allowed to enter the country.
Such a decision was taken yesterday, on September 16 and will remain effective until October 10. The Finnish authorities noted that until then, the current entry restrictions would also remain put in place for other countries.
According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Interior, travel from Singapore will be allowed only for those returning there, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
“If a person arriving from a restricted country has not received a full series of vaccinations, the permitted entry criteria are to return to Finland, return to other EU or Schengen countries, transit of regularly scheduled traffic at the airport or other necessary reason,” the press release issued by the Finnish Ministry of Interior reads.
At the same time, the Finnish authorities have imposed more stringent entry restrictions for unvaccinated travellers from Australia, Brunei and Ukraine, by banning arrivals from those countries.
Based on the World Health Organization (WHO) figures, during the last 24 hours, 807 new infection cases were reported in Singapore, marking 73,938 the total number of infections since January 2020, when the Coronavirus widespread began.
Other third countries, unvaccinated travellers from which are banned from entering Finland include Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Turkey.
Like Singaporeans, non-vaccinated travellers from these countries will be allowed to enter only if they are returning to Finland or another EU/Schengen country, transiting through or travelling to the country for necessary reasons.
“Persons who are not Finnish citizens and reside in other EU and Schengen countries may not return to their country of residence through Finland, except by flight, if the passage is related to leisurely travel,” the authority explains.
However, travellers who have been fully vaccinated, recovered from the virus, tested negative recently – in other words, holders of the EU Digital COVID-19 Certificate can travel to Finland exempted from entry restrictions.
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Most recently, Finland announced that its travel advice would be updated individually for each country, based on the assessment carried out by the Finish Institute for Health and Welfare recommendations, which is determined upon a country’s epidemiological situation.
On the same notice, the authorities warned Finns to check entry restrictions of each country before travelling there. Furthermore, they encouraged travellers to leave if the epidemiological situation of the destination country became unsafe.
As of September 17, Finland has identified 135,314 COVID-19 infection cases, with 487 reported only during the last 24 hours. Additionally, the country has registered 1,051 deaths related to the COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.