Less than a third of Finns who took part in the survey (31 per cent) said they planned to celebrate Christmas this year with a smaller group, says a survey by the Uutissuomalainen newspaper group, which includes 20 regional and local newspapers.
61 percent of respondents said they plan to observe the vacation with the same size group as before. One percent said they plan to do so with a larger group than usual.
“The most difficult in Uusimaa”
Holiday groups were probably reduced in Helsinki and Uusimaa (37 per cent). This is least likely to be the case in Western Finland, where only one-fifth plan to follow the holidays in smaller districts.
"The Uusimaa region has long been the most difficult region for the epidemic, as shown in these figures," Emmi Sarvikivi, A medical specialist from the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) told Uutissuomalainen.
News Finn also borrows from social anthropology Miia Halme-Tuomisaari Lund University, who points out that it is not possible to determine from the results whether those who say they intend to celebrate in smaller groups have done so in much larger groups in the past.
Uutissuomalainen says that the voting company Tietoykkönen interviewed 1,000 continental Finns in November.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, THL recommends that people celebrate at home in groups under 10 years of age.