Food prices in Finland have crept up by over two per cent since the beginning of the year, but not necessarily because of the coronavirus pandemic. (Olivia Ranta – Lehtikuva)

THE CONSUMER PRICES of food have risen to their highest levels in some time during the coronavirus-disrupted first half of the year in Finland.

Statistics Finland’s consumer price index shows that the consumer prices of grocery items and non-alcohol beverages crept up by 2.4 per cent year-on-year between May and June. Food prices have thereby risen by 1.8 per cent since the beginning of the year.

The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) has estimated that the reproduction number of the new coronavirus has risen to 0.85–1.05 in Finland. (Olivia Ranta – Lehtikuva)

THE FINNISH INSTITUTE for Health and Welfare (THL) says in its weekly report on the so-called composite strategy to combat the new coronavirus that new infections that have likely originated abroad have been detected in Finland.

Some of the cases and chains of transmission have been traced to Sweden, according to THL.

A stock image of a restaurant (Image: Lehtikuva)

IT IS ESTIMATED THAT MORE THAN 200 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO THE CORONAVIRUS at a restaurant in Kotka after an individual who dined there on Friday evening later tested positive for the virus. 

A woman covered her mouth and nose with a mask on a bus in Helsinki on 26 June 2020. (Emmi Korhonen – Lehtikuva)

MIKA SALMINEN, the director of health security at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), says THL intends to recommend that Finland encourage the use of face coverings in public spaces and on public transport to slow down the spread of the new coronavirus.

“Yes, it’s very possible it’ll be issued. We’ll talk about this immediately at the start of the week,” he revealed last weekend in interviews with MTV and YLE.

A man working from his home in Helsinki on 28 July 2020. (Markku Ulander – Lehtikuva)

THE MAJORITY of Finns have had enough of teleworking and are eager to return from their makeshift home offices to the hustle and bustle of the workplace, finds a survey by YLE.

YLE on Thursday revealed that 58 per cent of respondents said they would like to return to the workplace because the coronavirus situation has improved, whereas almost a quarter (23%) said they are reluctant to return to the workplace because of concerns about the epidemic.

Jussi Halla-aho, the chairperson of the Finns Party, delivered the opening remarks of a meeting of the opposition party’s party council in Helsinki on 13 June 2020. (Roni Rekomaa – Lehtikuva)

JUSSI HALLA-AHO, the chairperson of the Finns Party, has commented on the public outrage kindled by a derogatory remark made by one of his party comrades, Mauri Peltokangas, a first-term Member of the Finnish Parliament from Vaasa.

Peltokangas recently called cabinet members “pathetic arseholes” in a since-deleted post on Facebook.

A police handout of an impact hole caused by the explosive (Image: Lehtikuva)

POLICE HAVE COMPLETED THEIR PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION INTO THE EXPLOSION that took place in Mäkkylä, Espoo in May. They have ruled that the perpetrator had committed suicide and prepared an explosive device with the intent of harming police officers.

A stock image of a waiter (Image: Pixabay)

A RESTAURANT IN RASEBORG HAS TAKEN THE DECISION TO CLOSE AND PLACE ALL OF ITS STAFF into quarantine following a revelation that a patron who had recently dined at the there has tested positive for COVID-19. 

Unaccompanied underage refugees boarded an aircraft bound for Portugal in Athens, Greece, on 7 July 2020. (Angelos Tzortzinis – AFP/Lehtikuva)

A PROBE by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) has found that fewer than 40 per cent of irregular migrants comply with orders to leave the European Union.

EU member states have ordered an average of half a million foreigners to leave the bloc to their country of origin or a third country every year since 2008 on grounds that they had either entered or been residing in the bloc without the necessary documentation.

PM Marin at a press conference in Helsinki last week (Image: Lehtikuva)

PRIME MINISTER SANNA MARIN HAS TAKEN TO TWITTER to remind people that there remains a risk of coronavirus "escalating again" and the "restrictions can be reintroduced" at any time if the spread of the disease worsens. 

The Finnish economy did not nosedive as dramatically as feared in the first half of the coronavirus-disrupted year, judging by preliminary data. (Olivia Ranta – Lehtikuva)

THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE of Etla Economic Research, Aki Kangasharju, has alleviated concerns that the global increase in new coronavirus infections could deliver another setback to the economy and intensify the recession.

Kangasharju on Wednesday reminded that a second, and even a third, wave of infections was expected, saying he is confident that the pandemic can be kept under control without shutting down economies.

A collage of surveillance camera photos of men wanted in connection with the incident released by Helsinki Police Department. (Handout / Helsinki Police Department)

HELSINKI POLICE DEPARTMENT has released surveillance camera photos of five men wanted in connection with a fight that took place outside Kaivohuone, a restaurant in Kaivopuisto Park in Helsinki, on Sunday, 5 July.

The fight caused the death of a man born in 2001 and injuries to four others.

Annika Saarikko announced her bid to become the next chairperson of the Centre Party at Villa Annala in Helsinki on Thursday, 30 July 2020. (Markku Ulander – Lehtikuva)

ANNIKA SAARIKKO (Centre) has announced her bid to become the next chairperson of the Centre Party.

Saarikko on Thursday revealed at Villa Annala in Helsinki that she “really” mulled over her decision throughout the summer, thus acknowledging the significance of challenging the incumbent chairperson, Katri Kulmuni.

An employee filling the orders of online customers in K-Citymarket Iso Omena in Espoo on 28 April 2020. Kesko says it is prepared to adjust its prices in response to the price reduction campaign of Lidl. (Antti Aimo-Koivisto – Lehtikuva)

LIDL on Wednesday announced it is permanently slashing the prices of hundreds of items in its grocery shops in Finland.

Mikko Forsström, the chief commercial officer at Lidl Finland, stated that the goal of the grocery shop chain is to consolidate its price leadership in the country by offering the most affordable grocery shopping experience.

A handout from Uusimaa Police of the recent cannabis seizure (Image: Lehtikuva)

UUSIMAA POLICE HAVE RELEASED PHOTOS OF A RECENT CANNABIS SEIZURE in Helsinki and Kerava believed to be the results of an organized growing ring. The seizure is estimated to be worth around €380,000.