Morning papers, including the country's largest circulation daily, Helsingin Sanomat, speculate that the government of PM Sanna Marin (SDP) is ready to impose tightened travel restrictions, stopping just about any cross-border traffic other than essential business travel.
In addition, testing at airports, seaports and land borders is likely to be significantly increased.
HS took a look at what the government's legal alternatives are if it decides to impose these restrictions.
The main worry right now is the spread of coronavirus variants. There are currently 47 confirmed cases of the British variant in Finland and two of a variant first identified in South Africa. So far, almost all infections caused by these variants have been associated with travellers arriving from abroad.
However, according to HS, some of the means the government has been looking at to clamp down on travel have hit legal barriers.
Changes to legislation are on the way. Parliamentary committees have been reviewing revisions to the Communicable Diseases Act this week. Even if fast tracked, this new legislation will not come before the house for a vote before early February.
Some experts interviewed by Helsingin Sanomat point out that the government could again turn to the Emergency Powers Act, but its provisions are also inadequate for fully managing the pandemic.
Last autumn, the government drafted a bill that would have allowed incoming travellers to be quarantined if they came from an area where the incidence of the disease in a two-week period was at least double that of Finland and the infection rate was one per 1,000. That proposal was shot down before it could come before parliament for a vote.
Martin Scheinin, a research professor in international law, last week proposed that the government look at a separate law restricting freedom of movement under Article 23 of the Constitution that allows temporary exceptions to fundamental rights, if necessary, during exceptional circumstances that seriously threaten the nation.
He pointed out that if the government does this, Finland will also have to provide an emergency declaration to the Council of Europe and the United Nations.
Travel cancelled and delayed
Turku's Turun Sanomat reports that at least a thousand travellers have had to cancel or delay bookings for flights from the UK on Finland's national airline Finnair made before a ban came into force on 21 December. The ban on direct flights to the UK will remain in place until at least 18 January.
In addition to the United Kingdom, air traffic to Finland was suspended this week from Ireland and South Africa.
According to Finnair, the majority of passengers on cancelled flights have postponed their travel plans.
Finnair has continued some flights from Finland to the UK. These flights are flown on the basis of demand, as the planes have to return empty or as cargo flights. Finnair has also re-routed some flights from the UK via Prague and Brussels. Prior to the flight ban, Finnair had two daily return flights to London and weekly flights to Dublin, Edinburgh and Manchester.
Political bias in schools?
The Oulu-based Kaleva is among the papers carrying a report that the nationalist Finns Party is claiming that teaching in Finnish schools is biased against the party and its principles.
The party's youth organization has issued a request on social media for students to come forward with their experiences of how the Finns Party and party supporters are treated in schools.
The chair of the Finns Party youth organization, Miko Bergbom, tweeted on Tuesday that he had been approached by several young people who told him that they have been bullied, discriminated against, and belittled for supporting the party.
In a now-deleted post, Finns Party MP Jani Mäkelä also issued a call on Twitter asking for examples of bias against the party in schools, saying that the issue would be taken up with the National Agency for Education.
The teacher's union OAJ responded by stating that it would not tolerate any kind of political campaign aimed at educators. It urged any teachers who felt targeted or threatened to notify their supervisor and occupational safety representative.
On Wednesday evening, the Finns Party youth organisation issued a press release stating that the group's move had been misconstrued and denied that it was collecting the names of teachers, schools, or any personal data.
Dangerously cold
Most morning papers report that large parts of the country are in for severely cold temperatures, down to -30C or more, well into Thursday evening.
According to Ilta-Sanomat, warnings in force in these areas mean that the cold can adversely affect outdoor activities and people with a variety of chronic conditions may experience more symptoms than usual.
The only areas not affected by the warning are Uusimaa in the south, Southwest Finland, Kanta-Häme, Päijät-Häme, Kymenlaakso and South Karelia, as well as the northernmost parts of Lapland.