Finland fared well with a quick lockdown and quick reopening…

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Taneli Puumalainen

Chief Physician at the Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare

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Our position was that it was very unlikely that opening schools would impact the pandemic, and based on the follow-up information we now have we can see that it has not. There were a few cases in schools, but no subsequent spread of infection. If a teacher had a pre-existing medical condition, he or she could visit an occupational physician and make a risk assessment, and if the physician decided the risk was too high, this would be a justification for allowing them to stay at home.

Infection rate among key workers was high, though this is probably due to the fact that, in the early stages of the pandemic, testing focused on health professionals. Currently, all those with mild symptoms are tested on a low threshold.

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This article is a Fika Online exclusive, with information sourced externally.

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