Sanna Marin: Finland PM apologizes for clubbing after COVID-19 close contact

Helsinki: Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin has apologised to the public after being criticized for spending a night out following exposure to Covid-19.  

A photo of Sanna surfaced in a nightclub after her foreign minister tested positive for COVID-19.  

Finnish Prime Minister, hence, made a public apology on her social media handle.

Marin, who is vaccinated, said she was told Saturday that Foreign Affairs Minister Pekka Haavisto tested positive after they were in close contact. 

According to her Monday Facebook post, she and her husband went about their evening in Helsinki. They met up with friends, went for dinner and "spent time in the ... night life".

But the Prime Minister’s office later said it had sent further text messages on Saturday recommending that they avoid contact with other people. 

She apologized, saying she did not have her second phone with her when the differing guidance came through. 

Marin said she was at a restaurant when she received a phone call from her state secretary informing her about the exposure.

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.

She faced criticism for her evening out after a Finnish gossip magazine published a photo of her in a crowded nightclub. 

"I should have used better consideration on Saturday night ... I’m really sorry," she said in her Facebook post.

Marin reiterated the apology Wednesday in an interview with public broadcaster Yle.

"I did wrong," she said. "I should have considered the situation more carefully."

Marin (36) became the world’s youngest leader when she became Prime Minister at the age of 34 two years ago as part of a coalition of centre-left parties. 

Finland, with a population of about 5.5 million, has not suffered as badly during the pandemic as many other European nations, recording about 196,000 cases and 1384 deaths.