Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP) delivered an update on the coronavirus situation to members of the media in Helsinki on Monday, 30 March 2020. (Emmi Korhonen – Lehtikuva)

PRIME MINISTER Sanna Marin (SDP) on Monday announced the government will extend its measures to slow down the spread of Covid-19 in Finland until 13 May.

The Finnish government announced a fortnight ago it will invoke the emergency powers act to, for instance, suspend in-person teaching at schools and universities, limit visits to care facilities and order over 70-year-olds to self-isolate in a bid to combat the pandemic.

Inside one of the apartments provided by Luona Oy for quarantine patients (Image: Lehtikuva)

FINNISH AUTHORITIES ARE WORKING WITH A COMPANY to provide accommodation for Finns returning from abroad who cannot self-isolate safely, with a number of apartments near Helsinki-Vantaa Airport being repurposed for the task. 

Mika Salminen, the head of health security at THL, was photographed arriving for a meeting of the ruling parliamentary groups at the House of the Estates in Helsinki on Tuesday, 24 March 2020. (Antti Aimo-Koivisto – Lehtikuva)

THE FINNISH INSTITUTE for Health and Welfare (THL) has updated its projections for the coronavirus epidemic in Finland.

The new projections offer both good and bad news for the country, according to Helsingin Sanomat. It appears, on the one hand, that the virus is spreading more rapidly than expected despite the counter-measures and, on the other, that the number of people needing intensive care will be much lower than expected.

The famous statue on Mannerheimintie earlier today (Image: Lehtikuva)

THE ICONIC KOLMEN SEPÄN STATUE in central Helsinki has been given a makeover to reflect the unusual times we find ourselves living in, as well as some messages of support for those who are struggling to cope with the new realities brought on by the spread of the Covid-19 virus. 

Minister of Finance Katri Kulmuni (Centre) has voiced her delight with the readiness to offer more financial support to businesses hit by the coronavirus pandemic. (Heikki Saukkomaa – Lehtikuva)

THE FINANCE COMMITTEE of the Parliament has proposed that the supplementary budget drafted by the government to help businesses to deal with disruptions caused by the coronavirus epidemic be beefed up substantially.

The committee announced yesterday it is proposing that the appropriation for direct business subsidies be increased from 200 million to 1,000 million euros.

Six of the Finnish government’s 19 ministers were present as the government announced strict restrictions to movement in and out of Uusimaa, the most populous region in Finland, in a bid to curb the spread of the new coronavirus in Helsinki on Wednesday, 25 March 2020. (Heikki Saukkomaa – Lehtikuva)

THE FINNISH GOVERNMENT has decided to prohibit all unnecessary travel in and out of Uusimaa, the most populous region in Finland.

The almost 1.7-million-resident region is to effectively be quarantined from the rest of the country for three weeks in order to reduce movement and social contact and, therefore, curb the spread of the new coronavirus, known officially as Covid-19.

Stockpiles of critical goods and equipment in a security of supply reserve in Southern Finland. (Handout – National Emergency Supply Agency)

THE SECURITY OF SUPPLY RESERVES of Finland have been opened to guarantee the availability of health care equipment for the first time in the post-war era due to the coronavirus pandemic, reports Helsingin Sanomat.

The health care reserves were opened last week for the health care districts of five university hospitals under a decision by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.

An ambulance in the Meilahti Hospital area in Helsinki on Thursday, 26 March 2020. (Heikki Saukkomaa – Lehtikuva)

THE DEATH TOLL from the new coronavirus increased to five in Finland on Thursday.

The Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS) and Päijät-Häme Joint Authority for Health and Wellbeing each reported yesterday that an elderly person succumbed to a disease caused by the virus, known officially as Covid-19.

A Taksi Helsinki driver delivers groceries to a home in Alpilla today (Image: Lehtikuva)

TAKSI HELSINKI HAS RESPONDED to falling demand from passengers by launching its own home delivery service for groceries. Given that the social distancing practices necessitated by the Covid-19 outbreak have resulted in demand for taxi service plummeting, the company sees this as a way to keep drivers employed. 

A conscript assisted police officers inspecting vehicles on the border of Uusimaa in Pyhtää, Southern Finland, on Sunday, 29 March 2020. (Heikki Saukkomaa – Lehtikuva)

COMMUTERS AND MOTORISTS should prepare for notable congestions on the border of Uusimaa, the most populous region of Finland, on Monday.

Helsinki Police Department on Sunday said it is impossible to estimate in advance how long the queues on the border will be, adding that motorists and public transport users alike should reserve more time than usual for their commute into the locked-down region.

Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP) during the question-time debate in the Parliament House in Helsinki on Thursday, 26 March 2020. (Heikki Saukkomaa – Lehtikuva)

THE FINNISH GOVERNMENT has not succeeded fully in providing clear instructions to Finnish nationals returning from abroad for preventing the spread of the new coronavirus, admits Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP).

“My understanding is that the instructions haven’t been clear enough,” she was quoted as saying in the Parliament House on Thursday by Helsingin Sanomat.

Travellers in Terminal 2 of Helsinki Airport on Wednesday, 18 March, a day before the Finnish government shut down borders to all non-essential traffic. (Heikki Saukkomaa – Lehtikuva)

THE INSTRUCTIONS, orders and recommendations of authorities to combat the coronavirus pandemic have had a visible impact on traffic volumes in Finland, reports Traffic Management Finland.

The state-owned traffic management agency revealed yesterday that the situation has had an impact not only on air travel, but also on rail and road transport.

A still from the video of the attack

A VIDEO POSTED ON INSTAGRAM yesterday apparently shows several youths attacking and beating a young female of Somali origin. The short clip has caught the attention of tens of thousands of viewers. The ethnicity of the assailants is not clear.

A 3D model of a SARS-CoV-2 particle, the virus that causes Covid-19 (Image: Lehtikuva)

TOP RESEARCHERS AT AALTO UNIVERSITY, VTT, THE UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI, AND THE FINNISH METEOROLOGICAL INSTITUTE have joined forces to conduct joint research into the airborne origins of the Covid-19 virus, in the hopes of determining the best ways to reduce its spread. 

Prime Minister Sanna Marin (left) and Minister of Employment Tuula Haatainen announced strict restrictions to the operations of bars, cafés and restaurants on the steps of the House of the Estates in Helsinki on Tuesday, 24 March 2020. (Emmi Korhonen – Lehtikuva)

CAFÉS, RESTAURANTS AND NIGHT CLUBS in Finland will soon have to close their doors to all non-takeaway customers under a government proposal that was fast-tracked to the Parliament on Tuesday.

“Restaurants can’t stay open to customers who stay there to eat,” Tuula Haatainen (SDP), the Minister of Employment, described the gist of the proposal in a makeshift press conference outside the House of the Estates.