Finland’s PM apologises for clubbing til 4am following Covid exposure but people see the funny side

Finland’s Prime Minister has apologised for going clubbing after coming into close contact with someone with Covid, but people think politicians have done a lot worse.

Sanna Marin, who became the world’s youngest prime minister in 2019, was pictured on a night out at the Butcher’s club in Helsinki on Saturday, hours after her foreign minister had tested positive, initially believing she didn’t have to isolate because she had been fully vaccinated.

But the Social Democratic prime minister, 36, missed a text message that advised her to avoid social contact because she had left her work phone at home. So she went out into the night and witnesses reportedly saw her dancing until 4am.

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Now she’s been given a slap on the wrist. In a Facebook post on Monday, translated by the BBC. Marin said she had gone shopping and to dinner with her husband after initially being told she didn’t need to quarantine but that she should have double-checked the guidance and used better judgement.

“I am very sorry for not understanding that I needed to do that,” she wrote.

While Finland’s Covid guidelines – which their PM should probably know a thing or two about – say double-jabbed people don’t need to isolate, they do advise people to voluntarily avoid social contact while waiting for a Covid test.

Separate guidelines for government ministers and employees also recommend limiting social contact immediately after exposure to the virus, according to Finland’s Helsingin Sanomat newspaper.

Speaking to reporters in parliament on Wednesday, Marin said she had not been provided with this guidance. She said she took personal responsibility for the lack of information and again apologised for her actions.

Meanwhile, the day after she went clubbing, she took a negative test for the virus.

But reacting to the story, lots of people weren’t that annoyed with her and saw the funny side:

However, others thought it was pretty bad form.

Opposition politicians suggested Marin should have set a good example by isolating voluntarily instead of going clubbing. Mia Laiho, an MP for the National Coalition Party, said Marin had been “irresponsible”.

Meanwhile, in a poll commissioned by the TV channel MTV3, two-thirds of respondents said Marin’s night out was a “serious mistake”.

Oh dear. Sounds like a fun person to have at one of Downing Street’s parties at least.