Finland reintroduced border controls for people arriving from other parts of the Schengen Area in mid-March 2020. (Antti Aimo-Koivisto – Lehtikuva)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION has reprimanded Finland, along with five other member states, for resorting to measures in the fight against the new coronavirus that are stricter than recommended and inhibit free movement within the European Union.

The written reprimand was also issued to Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Hungary and Sweden. The sextet have 10 days to respond to the European Commission.

Finnish Business and Policy Forum EVA has revealed that the number of women in leadership and management roles in Finland is at an all-time high. 

As per data from the International Labour Organisation (ILO), women accounted for 36.8 per cent of all senior and middle management positions in companies, agencies and organisations in 2019, compared to 31.5 per cent in 2017. 

Protesters take part in a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon on February 23, 2021. LEHTIKUVA / AFP

The European Union (EU) has strongly condemned the military coup in Myanmar and is considering sanctions against the individuals responsible for ousting the country's civilian government, the EU Council said on Monday.

The decision will require additional measures from, for example, gyms operated by companies in Uusimaa, the most populous region of Finland. (Roni Rekomaa – Lehtikuva)

THE REGIONAL STATE Administrative Agency (AVI) for Southern Finland has decided to prohibit all close gatherings in public and semi-public spaces in Uusimaa, the most populous region of Finland.

The prohibition will apply to all indoor spaces with a capacity of more than 10 and outdoor spaces with a capacity of more than 50 between Thursday, 25 February, and Sunday, 14 March.

Health care staff at the post-operative ward of Jorvi Hospital in Espoo on 27 January 2020. A shortage of nursing staff is already affecting the operations of various hospital divisions in the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS). (Vesa Moilanen – Lehtikuva)

INTENSIVE CARE BEDS in the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS) have started filling up quickly due to a surge in the number of coronavirus infections, reports YLE.

Asko Järvinen, the chief physician of infectious diseases at HUS, revealed yesterday to the public broadcasting company that the number of coronavirus patients has almost doubled in hospitals in the district in a week.

Lehtikuva

In European financial politics, the most important topic right now is the EU's 750 billion "recovery fund". In carefully crafted rhetorical speeches the fund is justified by the ongoing coronavirus situation, but the virus is actually being utilized as an excuse to distribute 390 billion euros as grants and 360 billion as loans. The conditions for getting money from the fund have rather little to do with the epidemic itself.

Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP) sat down with other cabinet members yesterday to discuss additional measures to rein in the coronavirus epidemic in Finland. (Markku Ulander – Lehtikuva)

THE GOVERNMENT of Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP) has made an in-principle decision on declaring a state of emergency over the coronavirus epidemic in Finland, three sources with knowledge of the matter revealed to Helsingin Sanomat on Wednesday.

Marin tweeted yesterday evening that the chairpersons of the five ruling parties will announce the conclusions of their meeting at a press conference scheduled for 9.30am on Thursday.

A block of flats in Espoo on 8 February 2021. There are no signs of the appeal of growth centres waning due to the widespread shift to remote work, views the Mortgage Society of Finland (Hypo). (Antti Aimo-Koivisto – Lehtikuva)

THE REAL ESTATE MARKET has heated up considerably in the capital region of Finland.

The Mortgage Society of Finland (Hypo) on Tuesday revealed it is forecasting house prices to surge by an average of four per cent – more than in any other year in the past decade – in Espoo, Helsinki and Vantaa in 2021.

Cyber security experts have revealed that Finns have already lost 1 million euros to online fraudsters since the beginning of the year. 

Juho Jauhiainen, an information security specialist at the National Cyber Security Centre Finland, told Yle that scam artists have been posing as representatives from organisations such as Microsoft, Posti and most recently, the Finnish Tax Administration, to trick people out of their money.

It is pretty common for The Centre Party to be the target of malicious comments in “Etelän media”, the media in southern Finland. The party is antediluvian, an anomaly, a special interest party that always betrays, and a treacherous negotiator that introduces last-minute proposal that favor them, to force the other’s hand. Already twenty years ago, it was said that The Centre Party was past its prime, but the party still managed to hold the fort.

Candles at the intersection of Mäkelänkatu and Päijänteentie in Vallila, Helsinki, on 5 November 2020. (Emmi Korhonen – Lehtikuva)

THE DISTRICT COURT of Helsinki has sentenced a 16-year-old boy to nine years and four months in prison in connection with the fatal stabbing of an 18-year-old man in Vallila, a central-northern neighbourhood of the Finnish capital, on 31 October.

The boy was found guilty of manslaughter and aggravated robbery.

Almost 40 per cent of over 80-year-olds in Finland have been vaccinated against Covid-19. (Heikki Saukkomaa – Lehtikuva)

THE STATUS of Covid-19 vaccinations is not as bad as it appears judging by the public debate, Sirpa Rinta, the director of pharmaceutical policy at Pharma Industry Finland, stated on YLE Radio 1 on Monday.

The vaccination programmes have been criticised for lack of progress, in part because the vaccine deliveries have not been as large as initially expected.

Artificial ice rink Brahenkenttä.

Last year, Helsinki residents filled outdoor sports facilities, beaches and artificial ice rinks. During the year marked by the coronavirus pandemic, various online services also broke their visitor records. The city residents discovered digital magazines, museums and cultural centres expanded their digital offering, and youth work moved to the streets and social media.

LEHTIKUVA / AFP

The findings of a recent study suggested that antibodies that help in guarding against the COVID-19 virus are transferred from mothers to their babies while in the womb.

This discovery, published in the 'American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology', adds to growing evidence that suggests that pregnant women who generate protective antibodies after contracting the coronavirus often convey some of that natural immunity to their fetuses.

Aurora Botnia, a car and passenger ferry of Wasalines, was floated out of Rauma Marine Constructions' shipyard in Rauma, Finland, on 11 September 2020. (Juha Sinisalo – Lehtikuva)

LANGUAGE BARRIERS, cultural differences and the living conditions of employees facilitated the spread of the new coronavirus at Rauma Shipyard in Finland, writes YLE.

Hannu Nordqvist, the chief physician at the City of Rauma, highlighted in a statement to the city’s social and health care division that the foreign employees make up a considerable share of the employees of subcontractors operating at the shipyard, with about 800 of the 1,000 employees being non-Finnish speakers.