Several regions in Finland said on Tuesday that their coronavirus restrictions would remain in place until the end of January, when leaders warned that low test numbers during Christmas could mean Finland did not have a real picture of the epidemic situation in the country.
In southwestern Finland, the restrictions will continue until 24 January, and only children aged 4-6 and 7-9 will return to full-time contact education after the holiday.
Mayor of Helsinki Jan Vapaavuori (NCP) said the restrictions in the metropolitan area will remain in place until January 31st.
"The Metropolitan Coordination Group has decided that all restrictions and recommendations focusing on public spaces, hobbies, public and private meetings and secondary education will continue for three weeks until the last day of January." said Vapaavuori.
No school closures
This means that indoor hobbies organized by municipalities will be suspended, as will outdoor hobbies for people over 20 years of age.
Spaces open to the public, such as museums and youth clubs, must remain closed, and public and private gatherings of more than ten people are still prohibited.
The mayor said officials are exploring ways secondary school students who take exams this year can return to contact teaching and that primary schools (schools for children under 16) continue their personal education.
Vapaavuori told Yle that schools will remain open to contact teaching in the capital despite a government request that local authorities take all available measures to slow the spread.
"The instructions of the central government have been somewhat open to interpretation," said Vapaavuori. "It has also been mentioned that special attention should be paid to children and young people. In the last update before Christmas, primary schools were not mentioned at all."
"It could be interpreted to mean that the central government thinks and understands that these are the last measures to close schools that provide compulsory education and move on to distance learning."
Small test numbers
The Helsinki Coordination Group consists of representatives of public health bodies and regulatory authorities, as well as local government.
At a news conference on Tuesday, they said the percentage of cases found from foreign sources had risen, but it was difficult to get a true picture of the epidemic situation due to the small number of tests performed.
The hospital district of the University of Helsinki reported a positivity of 3.51 per cent in the week before 3 January, which is an increase of 2.53 per cent from the previous week.
The number of tests decreased from 32,637 weeks on December 27 to 31,213,153 weeks on January 3rd.
Taneli Puumalainen According to the Department of Health and Welfare (THL), this drop meant that many cases may go unreported, and the days to come show a real direction.
"Hospital bed occupancy has not risen, but neither has it fallen over Christmas," said Puumalainen. "The number of infections is still too high."