Here’s our evening round-up of the latest coronavirus news from Finland:
- Latest coronavirus figures and casualties
- ‘Hybrid timetable’ to ease coronavirus restrictions
- Low number of positive passengers arriving at airport
- Finland gives €36m for vaccine research
Latest coronavirus figures and casualties
The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare THL says there have now been 5,412 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Finland, an increase of 85 from the previous day.
There have also now been 246 coronavirus-related deaths, an increase of 6 from the day before.
Although THL says most cases of coronavirus around the country have been mild, there are currently 195 people receiving treatment for their symptoms in hospital - and 48 of them are in intensive care. Overall, those numbers have been falling over the last ten days.
Looking more specifically at the patients in intensive care 65% of them have had some form of long-term illness. Of the fatalities, 52% are men and 48% women.
‘Hybrid timetable’ to ease coronavirus restrictions
The government has unveiled what it calls a ‘hybrid timetable’ to phase out many of the restrictions brought in to slow the spread of coronavirus in Finland.
Minister have laid out the measures they want to take immediately, by the middle of May, and by the beginning of June to relax restrictions – which were negotiated during two days of discussions with coalition partners at the House of the Estates in Helsinki.
Some of the key changes include: being able to immediately borrow library books. From 14th May: upper secondary, college & university can begin, although distance learning is recommended. From 1st June restaurants, cafes and bars can re-open.
Schengen borders will also be open for work or essential travel from 14th May. There’s also an easing of restrictions on sports clubs training, sports competitions and museums. And from 1st June people can gather in groups up to 50.
However some restrictions stay in place, like social distancing for the over 70s, and a recommendation to continue working from home until the end of summer at least. Read more here. Read more here.
Low number of positive passengers arriving at airport
Health screenings on passengers arriving at Helsinki Airport have detected very few cases of coronavirus.
New figures released show that from 27th March when screenings began, until the end of April, some 8,837 arriving passengers had completed a questionnaire about their health.
Out of the total, 204 people reported they had symptoms of a respiratory infection but just nine people were confirmed with coronavirus.
“Based on the figures, it seems that coronavirus infections are quite rarely found through screening at the airport” says Taneli Puumalainen, THL’s Chief Physician.
About 7% of all notifications to the Infectious Diseases Register connected with foreign travel originated in Austria; while Italy (about 3% of reported cases) and Spain (about 2% of reported cases) also feature on that list. Read more here.
Finland gives €36m for vaccine research
Finland has promised to give €36 million to international efforts to find a vaccine for coronavirus. The announcement came as part of a global pledge drive that raised €7.4 billion from 20 countries and organisations including the European Union.
The amount that Finland has pledged is made up mostly of funding already promised earlier this spring, plus €2.5 million the the global vaccine alliance Gavi, and a €10 million increase in humanitarian aid.
“It is important to ensure that vaccines, treatments and medicines for Covid-19 are made available globally, regardless of where they were developed” says Minister of Health Aino-Kaisa Pekonen (Left).
Some other countries which pledged money include Norway with €1 billion; €762 million from Japan; €525 million from Germany; €125 million from Spain and €3 million from Greece. Neither the USA nor Russia contributed any money.
