Finland has become the latest country to announce restrictions on arrivals from Malta as coronavirus cases continue to surge.

More than a dozen European countries have either banned non-essential flights from the island or announced quarantine requirements.

Finnish interior minister Maria Ohisalo announced the country was restoring border control to traffic from Malta as well as Greece, Iceland, Germany, Norway and Denmark. There are no direct flights between Malta and Finland. 

The ruling means that from Monday, August 24, leisure travel is banned for non-Finnish citizens arriving from Malta. Ohisalo said the restrictions were based on epidemiological assessments. 

"The reason for this is that we want to adhere to the relatively good disease situation in Finland, which everyone in this country has tried to achieve over the past year," she said.

European countries have been restricting travel to the island because of the high number of cases in Malta per 100,000 people over the last 14 days. 

As of 10am on Tuesday, Malta ranked second in Europe with 104.7 cases per 100,000.

Greece, Slovenia, Latvia, the Netherlands, Estonia, Lithuania, Ireland, Belgium, Italy, Norway, Denmark, the UK, Cyprus and Switzerland have all slapped restrictions on Malta.

There are 677 active cases of the virus in Malta, with a further 47 cases announced on Tuesday after 2,261 tests.

Tourism is one of the major contributions to the Maltese economy, accounting for almost a third of GDP, when the wider effects of the supply chain are taken into account. 

Last year, total tourism expenditure amounted to €2.2 billion, according to the Malta Tourism Association with 2.8 million visitors. 

The UK is Malta's largest tourism market, followed by Italy, and France, who have yet to introduce any restrictions.