Tabloids Evening News is among the magazines that it is easier to organize outdoor events, sports and sports services on Tuesday when the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health announced that the definition of close contact in the Communicable Diseases Act is no longer applicable outdoors.
Safe distance requirements – which are at least two meters apart and avoid physical contact – must continue to be observed indoors. Local authorities impose restrictions on meetings on a regional basis.
The magazine also reports that restrictions on gatherings in southwestern Finland will also be eased. Although Southwest Finland is still in the process of spreading the pandemic, the regional authorities have stated that public events and general assemblies can now be held, attended by up to ten people indoors and 50 people in designated outdoor spaces. These rules are valid until June 16.
In Finnish Lapland, too, the regional health authorities have lifted the 50-person limit on gatherings that came into force on Tuesday.
Enough vaccine?
As Yle said on Monday, up to 356,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine are scheduled to be delivered to Finland next week, a significant increase that is expected to accelerate the country’s vaccination program.
By daily IltalehtiHowever, deliveries of Pfizer vaccine are expected to decline again in August-September, slowing the number of vaccinations.
Mia KontioTHL’s vaccine logistics expert has said that while this may be true according to preliminary EU funding, it is not yet certain.
The Pfizer vaccine is currently the most commonly used jab in Finland.
The EU targets that 70% of the adult population will have received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine in the summer. Kontio says that the target is likely to be achieved in Finland by the end of June.
Psychological strain
Tampere Morning newspaper reviews new research shows that more and more people say they have experienced the effects of psychological stress during the second wave of a pandemic in Finland.
According to a study by the National Institute for Health and Welfare’s THL, 14 per cent of Finns have reported mental health symptoms and stress. In 2018, the corresponding figure was 12 percent.
The mental health of people of working age in particular has increased. At the same time, the use of health services due to mental health problems has also increased among 20-54 year olds.
However, suicidal ideation has not shown a general increase. Such thoughts were found to be most common among people of working age, reported by one in ten respondents.
_Get a selection of the most popular stories of the week as well as some Yle Arena tips straight to your inbox every Thursday with our newsletter. Register here.
Also running
Finland’s largest daily circulation, Helsingin Sanomat is reviewing several small, non-mainstream political parties and groups with candidates in municipal elections.
HS writes that many political movements are challenging Green Party and political left parties, especially in the metropolitan area.
The list of Helsinki residents, the Environmental Movement Helsinki, the Animal Rights Party, the Crystal Party, the Feminist Party and the Espoo Environmental Party are greener than the government’s green parties and want to preserve nature at the expense of housing construction.
These groups also offer different approaches.
The Animal Rights Party focuses on examining environmental issues from an animal perspective, while the Environmental Party, the Environmental Movement in Helsinki and the Crystal Party look at green spaces from the perspective of local residents. The Open Party and the Pirate Party, on the other hand, are approaching climate change from the perspective of technological development.
Helsingin Sanomat listed the small political movements registered in the municipal elections in the Helsinki metropolitan area.
These also include the Blues, a group that disbanded from the Finnish Party, and the Finnish Communist Party, which has candidates only in Espoo and Vantaa, five in both cities.
In addition to representatives of the new political movements, a total of 14 candidates from the Liberal Party will compete independently on the Swedish People’s Party list in Helsinki and Espoo.
Finally, new potatoes
Farmers’ Union paper Future of the countryside says with little excitement that the first potatoes of the season were harvested last weekend on the southwest coast of Houtskรคr and that this week potato growers in Nauvo, Rymรคttylรค and Merimaskus are following this example.
Cool spring weather delayed planting this year, but the availability of new potatoes is expected to grow steadily throughout early summer.
MT says farmers are now supplying all three major supermarket chains, Kesko, the S Group and Lidl.
New potatoes imported from southern Sweden have been available for some time and are cheaper than Finnish competitors. But a farmers’ representative told the newspaper "We compete for taste and quality."
Source: The Nordic Page