Finnish Parliament has ordered all employees not needed onsite to work remotely, following a stomach illness that has spread throughout the facility.
"There were stomach flu cases last night and this morning," First Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Paula Risikko (NCP) told Yle on Wednesday, adding that she was aware of about a dozen cases of the illness.
Parliament staff that are not needed to be onsite were ordered to work remotely, but the order did not apply to MPs.
"As a precautionary measure, civil servants were informed that those who do not absolutely need to be in the building today will be working remotely," Risikko explained.
As a further precaution, all events at Parliament have been cancelled for the rest of the week — with the exception of legislative work, according to the deputy speaker, and plenary sessions are set to continue normally.
According to Risikko, no committee meetings have been cancelled.
"Of course, the starting point is that legislative work must continue until a decision is made otherwise," she explained, adding that it is essential that Parliament remains functional.
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