200 migrants in Finland infected with coronavirus

200 migrants in Finland infected with coronavirus

Hundreds of Thai berry pickers in Finland were reportedly transported across the Scandinavian country to work despite being infected with Covid-19.

Finland's national broadcasting company Yle said on Wednesday in an article on its website that at least 200 Thai berry pickers had been diagnosed with Covid-19 since the beginning of this month. It reported that most of those infected work for Arctic International and Polarica.

The workers worked in the Lapland region in northern Finland, before being transferred to pick berries in a new area in the country's eastern region, according to Yle. On Tuesday it reported that both companies "moved at least 260 foreign berry pickers from Lapland to eastern Finland even though most of them were infected by or exposed to coronavirus".

Thailand's ambassador to Finland, Chavanart Thangsumphant, reportedly said the companies signed an agreement promising they would protect the health of Thai berry pickers amid the pandemic.

According to Yle, Ms Chavanart requested that Finland launch a probe into both companies to see whether they complied with the labour protection agreement.

"We are now waiting for authorities to find out whether the companies fully and properly complied with the agreement's conditions or not," she said as quoted by Yle.

The article said under the agreement, berry companies in Finland are obliged to provide treatment and compensation to workers should they be infected with Covid-19. It also mentioned the workers' right to health insurance, accommodation and transportation.

So far, Finland has logged 119,320 Covid-19 cases and 1,008 deaths.

A batch of 8,200 doses of Covid-19 vaccine has been administered to Thai workers since July, according to the Labour Ministry. It said the shots were administered before they left for jobs in Sweden and Finland.

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