LIVE: Protest in Finland over COVID restrictions.

"Broadly speaking most Finns complied with government restrictions during the first year of the pandemic, as a state of emergency was declared for only the first time since WWII; schools were closed; bars, restaurants and nightclubs were shuttered; social distancing rules introduced and people were told to work from home where possible. That stems in large part from a natural Finnish tendency to trust in the government and policy experts. But as the pandemic dragged on, and rules were relaxed and tightened depending on infection rates, there’s been an increasingly vocal pushback not just against continued restrictions but highlighting a lack of financial support for many workers.

While the Finnish government is widely perceived to have handled the coronavirus crisis well overall, Finland is one of the last countries in the EU to fully relax restrictions: this week the government announced that business won’t be going back to normal for bar and restaurant owners until the beginning of March. That didn’t go far enough for hundreds of workers from the arts and culture sector who gathered outside the prime minister’s office on Thursday to call for an immediate end to measures that impact their industries. And on Friday dozens of bars and restaurants around the country will defy legal restrictions on opening hours and welcome customers for late-night drinking and dining."

https://www.euronews.com/2022/02/04/protests-highlight-finnish-frustrations-at-ongoing-covid-restrictions