Health officials in Turku announced the city will now provide tests for passengers arriving on flights from Skipje, North Macedonia, after negative publicity around the city's decision not to test passengers on several recent flights.
Arrivals on the flight due to land on Saturday 2 January will now be asked to take a test.
Passengers arriving in Turku on a flight from Skopje, North Macedonia on Saturday will be asked to to take a Covid test, reversing the city's previous policy over holiday period flights.
Jane Marttila, a doctor at the municipality of Turku, said the city had changed course on Wednesday.
"We discussed the situation and got the necessary testing group together," said Marttila. "We'll meet the plane, unless something exceptional happens."
Marttila denied that the decision was based on staffing availability.
"These decisions are made on the basis of how many planes are coming to Turku and what is the epidemiological situation of the departure country," said Marttila.
There had not been a situation where the city wanted to test passengers and staff could not be found, according to Marttila.
Media storm and mayoral comments
The about-turn came after Turku Mayor Minna Arve questioned the previous decision not to test passengers on Skopje flights over the Christmas period.
On Tuesday evening, newspaper Helsingin Sanomat reported that passengers arriving on two flights from Skopje to Turku over Christmas entered the country without being tested for the virus.
One of those flights had 21 passengers and the other aircraft carried 65 individuals.
Health officials last tested a group of arriving passengers from Skopje on December 19, which was the first day flights resumed from North Macedonia, following a Finnish-ordered temporary ban on the route.
The route was suspended in early November, after more than 80 Covid-19 cases had been detected in passengers arriving from Skopje to Finland since the summer.
On December 19, four out of the 42 passengers tested were positive for the virus.
Passengers received guidance but weren't tested
Jane Marttila, an infectious disease physician for the City of Turku, said that health authorities greeted every planeload of passengers that had arrived. The municipality's efforts at Turku Airport are being carried out in cooperation with the Finnish Red Cross.
Passengers are now required to have a negative test result before they board the plane in Skopje.
"All [passengers] on planes that land at Turku Airport are greeted, and the passengers are personally handed instruction on how to proceed when in Finland," Marttila explained.
Beyond this Saturday, no further testing plans have solidified, as a joint working group between the Hospital District of Southwest Finland, Turku Airport, the Border Guard and the municipality meets on a weekly basis to make such arrangements.
"The working group is considering which flights will be subject to testing," Marttila said.