Govt urges people to avoid travelling to Brazil, Ireland, Portugal, SA, UK

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs on Tuesday urged people to avoid travelling to Brazil, Ireland, Portugal, South Africa, and the United Kingdom against the backdrop of the outbreak of new coronavirus variants in Finland.

The ministry made the guideline in accordance with the recommendation of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), said the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in a press release.

For all other countries, the foreign ministry’s general travel advice due to the COVID-19 pandemic is to avoid all but essential travel.

The coronavirus pandemic remains a major global risk to travel safety, and the situation may deteriorate abruptly and unpredictably in any country or region.

This general advice, however, does not apply to countries for which the Finnish Government has already lifted the entry restrictions.

In addition, the foreign ministry recommends avoiding all travelling to certain countries due to their general security situation or to leave such countries immediately.

Travellers may face limited access to healthcare, quarantine and restrictions on being outdoors. The Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs has only limited capabilities to assist travellers in distress during the pandemic.