The City of Helsinki's Metropolitan Area coronavirus coordination group has issued a recommendation for the area's comprehensive school staff to use face masks.
In practice, the group recommended that teachers and other school staff in Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen wear protective face masks and that the cities in question would provide the protective devices to personnel.
In a statement issued by the City of Helsinki on Monday, the coordination group said that while the coronavirus situation has been fairly stable in the region over the past few weeks, there have been signs that the epidemic was accelerating.
The group also said that the recent increase in coronavirus cases in other parts of Europe was a "reason for particular attentiveness."
"Face masks contribute to the sufficiency of personnel through reducing the number of teachers and other employees quarantined due to exposure. By adhering to the mask recommendation, we can ensure the continuity of contact teaching," the group stated.
The group said that further recommendations could be quickly introduced if the situation requires it.