About 300 students are believed to have been exposed to Covid-19 after attending a traditional student event at Helsinki University’s Faculty of Medicine at the end of August, according to news agency STT.
On Tuesday, the university said that a few first-year students had tested positive for the virus.
Medical faculty dean Risto Renkonen told STT that roughly 300 students had participated in an initiation event for new students last Thursday. About 200 were freshmen while 100 were older students. Part of the event involved an orienteering exercise, in which the new students moved from one point to another outdoors.
Renkonen said that first year courses had since been converted to online classes for two weeks. Senior students who had participated in the orientation event were also transferred to distance learning, at least until next Tuesday.
"We plan to get them all tested [for coronavirus] by then," the dean noted, adding that university officials had contact information for all the students who were at the event. The faculty had previously instructed organisers of all school events to draw up a contact list.
"We have been able to target the request for a coronavirus test with the help of the list of names," Renkonen said.
The dean added that it is in the students’ best interests to resolve the matter quickly.
"But above all in this situation where our students work in hospitals, it is extremely important for patient safety that our students do not work if they suspect they are infected," he pointed out.
The story was first reported by daily Helsingin Sanomat.