Since Christmas, the number of confirmed Covid cases in Finland has remained fairly stable, with the December peak leveling off and even declining.
That doesn’t mean the epidemic is coming to an end. Ilta-Sanomat carries shaking using quotes from the user Markus Mäkijärvi, A district doctor at Helsinki University Hospital, drawing attention to low test numbers as a worrying sign.
He says the number of people going for Covid tests dropped significantly during Christmas. Over the past couple of weeks, the positivity rate has been 3.5 percent.
On the other hand, it may mean that people got fewer infections if they were not at work and stayed in family groups during the holidays.
On the other hand, it may mean that the virus has spread invisibly among people with relatively mild symptoms or no symptoms at all – but how many cases can it involve?
"It’s a really difficult question," said Mäkijärvi. "There may be dozens of undiagnosed cases every day."
He adds that testing is a ‘civic duty’ and, combined with vaccines, is the only real way out of a pandemic.
The Minister demands vigilance
Helsingin Sanomat also has a report Covid’s concerns. Minister of Social Affairs and Health Aino-Kaisa Pekonen says it is concerned about new variations that are more prevalent among the population and wants a number of policy adjustments to combat the epidemic.
He says the Interior Ministry is making plans to expand testing, but there is a problem. Finland’s ability to make testing mandatory is limited, and many people arriving on ferries from Tallinn do not want to test.
Pekonen says it is because they do not want to be isolated if they get a positive result, because that would mean being at home without income.
Many construction workers working on a business trip from Tallinn are not entitled to Finnish social security benefits, including state-subsidized quarantine benefits, to which most of the workforce is entitled.
To solve this problem, Pekonen wants to receive a special epidemic fee so that people do not go to work sick because they cannot afford to stay home.
He also urges employers to act responsibly and require a negative Covid test before employees can be present.
Biden starts
The main story of all major Finnish newspapers is the inauguration of the President of the United States Joe Biden. The ceremony was streamed live on television in Finland, and the comments were plentiful after taking the oath of office of the new president.
Although the crowd in Washington DC was small, the Ambassador was present to observe the proceedings. Mikko Hautala.
The evening paper has quotation marks From Hautala, who said he did not expect major changes in the relationship between the United States and Finland.
"In politics, it has been a really tense and risky time, and now we have at least moved one step forward into a new era," said Hautala.
The new era marks a return to U.S. cooperation and multilateral diplomacy, according to Hautala.
Source: The Nordic Page