World’s youngest Prime Minister goes out clubbing after Covid exposure
The world’s youngest Prime Minister, Finland’s Sanna Marin, has apologised to the public after a photo surfaced of her in a nightclub following the foreign minister testing positive for COVID-19.
“I did wrong. I should have considered the situation more carefully,” Marin, 36, said in a television interview by public broadcaster Yle on Wednesday night.
Marin decided not to cut her night out short on Saturday, despite being told she had been exposed to the coronavirus the day before, she explained on Facebook on Monday, after a Finnish gossip magazine published a photo of her in a crowded nightclub.
But Marin wasn’t the only politician in the line of fire.
Economic Affairs Minister Mika Lintila also attended a floorball match between Finland and Latvia on Sunday, despite being advised to avoid contact with others, Helsingin Sanomat newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Defence Minister Antti Kaikkonen went to a dinner party on Saturday while Finance Minister Annika Saarikko and Science and Culture Minister Antti Kurvinen cancelled their attendance of the same event to avoid contacts, evening paper Ilta-Sanomat reported on Tuesday.
All three ministers were exposed on Friday at a meeting attended by Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, who on Saturday tested positive.
Marin said she was at a restaurant when she received a phone call from her state secretary informing her about the exposure.
“He said ministers would not be quarantined because they all have been vaccinated twice,” Marin wrote on Facebook, explaining why she continued socialising.
The prime minister’s office later said it had sent the exposed ministers two text messages on Saturday recommending that they avoid contact with other people.
Marin said she had left her official phone at home and instead relied on aides reaching her on her personal phone.
Marin has since taken two tests that were negative, while Lintila and Kaikkonen have also tested negative.
Finland has seen a surge of new COVID-19 cases in the past months, spurring health officials to worry about the healthcare system being overburdened.
Several big hospitals around the country have postponed non-critical surgeries and the government on Wednesday proposed a vaccine mandate for healthcare workers.
Image: EPA