At least 300 Finns who traveled to Russia to support their national team at the European Football Championship have contracted COVID-19, health officials said, according to Reuters.
The number of new cases per day in Finland increased from nearly 50 to over 200 last week and the figure is likely to increase in the coming days, adds BTA.
It is obvious that the returning fans have caused the growth of new infections on a daily basis in Finland, said Mika Salminen, director of the security department at the Finnish Health Institute.
“If we look at their age distribution, it is clear that few of them have received both doses of the vaccine,” he added.
According to local health authorities, more than 200 cases of infection during a football match in Russia have been identified among residents in the vicinity of Helsinki.
“The key question is whether we will witness chains of transmission of the virus. Now it seems that we cannot loosen the restrictions in the Helsinki area,” Salminen told Reuters.
The institute estimates that between 4,500 and 6,000 football fans have visited the Russian city of St. Petersburg to watch the European Championship match.
Authorities are still trying to track down everyone who attended the event and warn them that they may have infected their families and friends, Reuters reported.
© Associated Press
–
–
