The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health announced on Thursday that people whose mother tongue is other than Finnish or Swedish are overrepresented in new cases of coronavirus and that their share has risen significantly since last year.
Foreign-speaking speakers account for 31.3 percent of all those infected in March.
Last September, their share of all new cases was 19.2, and their share rose to 26.8 percent by December. In January, their share fell slightly to 26.4 per cent, but rose again in February and March.
The apparent decline in January may be due to the fact that the proportion of the population whose mother tongue was classified as unknown was significantly higher in that month, at 9.9 per cent, compared with 5.7 to 8.7 per cent in the other months since September.
The share of new cases among native speakers of Finnish or Swedish rose slightly to 66.2 per cent in December, but has otherwise fallen steadily since September.
Salminen: Covid should be available in multiple languages
According to a study conducted by THL, residents who are less fluent in Finnish or Swedish feel that they have received less information about the epidemic. However, the study suggested that the differences were small, and most people felt they had received enough information.
Most of the populations who responded to the survey said they generally follow the limitations and recommendations of the coronavirus.
However, foreign-speaking speakers said they were slightly less likely to follow precautions such as wearing masks, avoiding unnecessary travel, avoiding handshakes, and Coron flasher Contact tracking application developed by THL.
At a press conference on Thursday, THL’s director of health safety Mika Salminen suggested that the Corona Flasher should be updated so that it can be used in more languages. So far, it is only available in Finnish, Swedish and English.
More foreign language speakers in ministry
According to Salminen, the main causes of increased infections in foreign language speakers are living and working conditions. For example, many work in the service sector, while most cannot work remotely or always maintain social distance and hand hygiene. Only a third said they could work remotely.
Salminen said he believes more mobile testing and vaccination points are needed to resolve the situation.
According to a statement issued by THL on Thursday "multilingual and multichannel communication and advice are still needed" pandemic.
Yle presents the latest news from Covid-19 in Arabic, Somali, Kurdish and Persian on TV1 and Arena. There is also radio news in English and in Finnish from Roma and Karelia.
Less than 2% of cases acquired abroad
Salminen also said that there is room for improvement in the border security of Covid-19.
The ministry announced on Thursday that 1.7 percent of the 8th-14th. In March, new infections were acquired abroad, while other infections found in them accounted for less than one percent of all new cases.
On Thursday, March 18, 2021, passengers arriving in Finland from most countries will undergo mandatory health checks at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, Helsinki ports and the Vaalimaa border crossing point at the Russian border.
Source: The Nordic Page