A person jogged in crisp winter weather in Helsinki on Tuesday, 7 December. (Vesa Moilanen – Lehtikuva)

THE WEATHER will become warmer toward the weekend in Finland.

The Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) on Wednesday reported that temperatures are expected to start rising in western parts of the country on Thursday. “The temperatures won’t rise above zero, but the weather will be warmer than -10°C,” Ville Siiskonen, a meteorologist on duty at FMI, stated to STT.

Nurses turning over a patient in intensive care with Covid-19 in Seinäjoki Central Hospital on 2 December 2021. (Heikki Saukkomaa – Lehtikuva)

THE DEMAND for intensive care is rising across Finland.

YLE on Wednesday reported that a total of 54 patients are presently in intensive care with the coronavirus disease, highlighting that most of the patients are being treated outside the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS).

Power lines in Vantaa on 17 January 2021. Low temperatures have driven up demand for electricity in Finland. (Ritva Siltalahti – Lehtikuva)

LOW TEMPERATURES will drive up electricity prices substantially in Finland on Tuesday, reports Helsingin Sanomat.

Data from Nord Pool, an electricity exchange co-owned by transmission system operators in the Baltics and Nordics, indicates that the market price of electricity will surge to about 1,000 euros per megawatt-hour at 7–8am on Tuesday.

Rooftops in Töölö, Helsinki, on 12 October 2021. (Jussi Nukari – Lehtikuva)

PRELIMINARY DATA from Statistics Finland indicates that the prices of old dwellings in housing companies crept up by 3.6 per cent year-on-year in October.

The sales of old dwellings brokered by real estate agencies increasing by almost two per cent from the previous year, pushing up prices in all of the largest cities and major population centres except for municipalities surrounding the capital region and municipalities in Eastern Finland.

LEHTIKUVA / SUOMEN TULLIN HANDOUT

Based on a request from the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health, Customs has conducted preliminary investigations into sales of alcohol from other European countries to Finland. The investigations are now complete, and criminal charges will be considered next.

Almost one in four workers (22.4%) in Finland usually worked from home during 2020, according to new analyses published in Eurofound’s recent research report What just happened? COVID-19 lockdowns and change in the labour market. This is the highest proportion across the EU, where the average is 10.8%.

Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP) attended a plenary session in the Parliament House in Helsinki on 26 November 2021. (Antti Aimo-Koivisto – Lehtikuva)

PRIME MINISTER Sanna Marin (SDP) broke internal government instructions by going to a nightclub after being notified of her exposure to the new coronavirus on Saturday, reports Helsingin Sanomat.

Iltalehti on Tuesday revealed that a general government directive updated late last month states that the government and staff at its ministers are encouraged to avoid contact as soon as they have been notified of exposure to the virus.

Processing of parcels at the Posti logistic centre in Vantaa on 2nd of December 2021. The christmas season is the busiest time of the year for Posti.

Christmas is approaching, and soon it will be time to show your loved ones near and far that you’re thinking about them. The mailing dates for Christmas greetings within Finland will soon be upon us. If you’re sending greetings to Europe, it is a good idea to act quickly.

A nurse in an operating room in Kainuu Central Hospital in Kajaani on 8 July 2020. (Emmi Korhonen – Lehtikuva)

THE FINNISH PARLIAMENT will this week mull over a legislative amendment that would signal a step toward decreeing that nurses, physicians and other social and health care professionals must be vaccinated against Covid-19, reports Helsingin Sanomat.

The amendment to the communicable diseases act would effectively make the vaccinations mandatory possibly under the threat of loss of pay.