A new set of restrictions was announced for the metropolitan area yesterday, tabloid Iltalehti asks when Finland can reopen.
The newspaper reported the Prime Minister Sanna Marin(SDP) commented on Thursday that restrictions could be lifted when 80 to 90 percent of people over the age of 12 have been vaccinated against the coronavirus.
The tabloid thinks this can be difficult to remove.
"This is a very tough, if not near impossible goal. According to a study carried out by the Finnish Institute of Economic Research, 78 per cent of Finns aged 15 and over planned to take the vaccine," Iltalehti writes.
But, as the magazine reports, experts Mika Rämet, Director of the Vaccination Research Center and Lasse Lehtonen, Director of HUS Diagnostics, keep Marin’s goal achievable.
"The goal is, of course, as high as possible. That is an ambitious but achievable goal, given that more than 60% of people over the age of 16 have already received the vaccine," Rämet said.
HUS’s Lehtonen told the newspaper that Marin’s goals were similar to his.
"I said at least 85 percent. 80 percent is the lower limit. A month ago, European researchers published an assessment in the Lancet [medical] magazine, which kept 80 percent as a minimum target. In this sense, the Prime Minister’s comment is in line with the medical community," he said.
Can Finland become a battery power?
National daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat’s Finance Department will focus on batteries this Friday. Under a new agreement announced this week, Norwegian battery company Freyr will build a new plant on the west coast of Vaasa.
"Global competition for battery production is accelerating and Finland is a strong competitor," magazine writes.
"Finland processes about 10 percent of the world’s cobalt and almost five percent of nickel" paper notes. Both elements are key ingredients in various batteries that use large items such as cars.
"I wouldn’t call it a great power yet," Pertti Kauranen, A professor of energy storage at LUT University told HS.
"Finland is a unique country in Europe, because such a domestic value chain is possible at all," he added.
According to HS, the new plant is big news because, when completed, it will, for the first time, involve the extraction, processing and domestic production of raw materials for batteries.
How can Finland help stop global warming?
That’s what Central Finn from Jyväskylä asked Janne Kotiaho, Professor of Ecology at the University of Jyväskylä and Chairman of the Finnish Panel for Nature after this week’s IPCC climate study.
Kontiaho proposed five changes that people and municipalities in Central Finland can make.
First of all, Keskisuomalainen writes that he cuts meat.
"Public canteens should move to a plant-based diet," Kontiaho told the magazine that the vegetarian has about a quarter of the harmful effects of a beef-based climate.
Second, the magazine writes, building cities that encourage walking and cycling.
"The zone can be divided into construction sites in a way that minimizes emissions and damage to nature," Kotiaho said.
Third, stop burning peat. For Central Finland, stopping the burning of peat and peat production would be the most important step, the magazine writes, and Kotiaho adds that municipal energy companies must stop burning peat as a matter of urgency.
Fourth, make Päijänne a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
Biosphere reserves are model areas for sustainable development that promote the sustainable use of natural resources, Keskisuomalainen explains.
According to Kotiaho, the station also created new business opportunities for agriculture, forestry and tourism in the area.
And fifth, Kotiaho recommends replacing natural gas with biogas, which is often made from waste and plant products.
Progress has already been made: Keskisuomalainen states that biogas buses are already in use in Jyväskylä.
Source: The Nordic Page