The partial closure of Finland announced by Finland this week will bring a number of new restrictions on public meetings. However, the rules can be applied in different ways depending on whether the practice is in a public or private institution.
The sports groups have criticized the government and the Southern Finland Regional State Administrative Agency (Avi) for giving conflicting Covid rules to the team’s hobbies.
On Thursday, the government announced that the March closure would suspend all hobbies for young people over the age of 12 in areas deemed to be in the process of spreading or accelerating the virus. The municipalities of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area moved to suspend group work for all those born before 2009.
On Friday, however, the Regional State Administrative Agency of Southern Finland (Avi) announced that gathering up to ten people for hobbies, regardless of age, was okay. This meant that organizations operating on privately owned premises could still keep their doors open.
The Department of Social Affairs and Health was not happy with Avi’s decision, but the regional agency announced over the weekend that it would stick to its decision.
Tuija Kumpulainen The Minister of Social Affairs and Health told Yle by e-mail that the government’s decision to suspend group activities for 8-28 year olds and 12-year-olds was in line with the age of children who switched to distance learning during the same period.
Inaccurate science
Otto Helve, A pediatric infectious disease expert at THL’s Public Health Institute, said there was no scientific basis for surgery at the age of 12.
"There is no definition of when the severity of symptoms in a child or adolescent becomes similar to that in adults. It is an individual threshold. Estimates now suggest an increase in risk in adolescence," Helve told Yle by email.
Chief of HUS Veli-Matti Ulander for his part, he said he understood why the government wanted to limit contacts in hobbies.
"Failure has already been made to prevent the epidemic from worsening. It has therefore been considered necessary to introduce wider restrictions," he explained.