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Finland to end all COVID-19 restrictions

All COVID-19 restrictions are set to be lifted in Finland in February, with the exact timing to be hashed out this week, Prime Minister Sanna Marin says.

Marin said her Social Democratic-led government will meet on Wednesday to draw up a plan for rescinding the rules, broadcaster Yle reported.

Some measures are already due to be eased. 

For instance, starting on Tuesday, restaurants will be able to extend their opening hours to 9pm and serve alcohol until 8pm.

Border controls with other European Union and Schengen countries will also be lifted as of Tuesday. 

These were introduced in December to slow the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant.

The government said that vaccines had proved their worth by preventing mass hospitalisations as the Omicron variant spread through Finland, meaning the country was in a good position to finally lift all restrictions.

Meanwhile, the UK announced they would scrap COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates, including the mandate for health care workers.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the end of COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions in England last week as Britain looks to live with the virus. Mandates for health care workers are also set to be revoked after serious backlash against the rules that would have seen over 70,000 workers out of a job.

Ireland, Denmark and the Netherlands have also recently started to ease restrictions and vaccine mandates.

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