Oulu's Kaleva is among the papers reporting that Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP) returned to the media spotlight on Wednesday, following a short holiday, to face questions about what the government intends to do to battle an upswing in coronavirus infections in Finland.
Speaking after an informal evening cabinet session, Marin said that the government had met with the leaders of all parliamentary groups and reviewed the situation, but added that no decisions had yet been taken on new measures.
Government talks that continue today, Thursday, are expected to bring an announcement of means to improve health security at the borders, a mask recommendation and a renewed recommendation on telecommuting.
The prime minister clarified the government’s stand on mandatory quarantines for travellers arriving from high-risk countries.
She said that mandatory quarantines and mandatory testing will not be imposed by the government. Rather, she pointed out, any such moves will be made by health officials under the terms of the Communicable Diseases Act.
Asked if she personally supports mandatory quarantines, she stated that the authorities do not require the backing of the prime minister.
"I understand that every effort is made to ensure that the disease does not enter the country," Marin said.
According to Marin, Finns should not think about traveling abroad in the autumn.
"A holiday trip abroad is not a priority for families to consider," she stated.
Kaleva also reports that the Finnish government does not intend to reactivate the Emergency Powers Act, but rather rely on health legislation to achieve its ends.
Marin also expressed concern about long queues for coronavirus tests. The paper points out that in some places, access to testing has taken up to four days.
The prime minister said that testing should be immediately available and that to achieve this, the private sector can also be mobilised and further funding earmarked for testing.
Confusion and outrage in the north
Helsinki tabloid Iltalehti reports that residents along both sides of the Finnish-Swedish border in the northern Tornio River Valley are confused and outraged by the idea of mandatory quarantines for travellers entering Finland from countries with higher rates of coronavirus infection.
Residents in the region are accustomed to the border being open, living, working, shopping and socialising across the border.
The paper quotes Jyri J. Taskila, Chief Physician of the West Ostrobothnia Hospital District ,as saying that the idea of mandatory quarantine came as a surprise to him as well and that it is hard to see how it could be imposed in the western border area.
He also pointed out that the incidence of the disease has already decreased in northern Sweden and is no longer very far from the definition of the risk limit.
Testing everyone moving across the border would not be practical, sensible, and the costs incurred would be astronomical, he adds.
"There could be mandatory testing, but it is never a good way to treat people. We don't have the capacity to start mass testing everyone, when we have ten thousand people a day crossing the Tornio border. Of course, testing of those with symptoms has a lower threshold," he says.
Capital upgrading efforts
According to Finland's leading Swedish-language daily, Hufvudstadsbladet, just over five new COVID-19 cases a day have been confirmed in Helsinki over the past week.
"The number may sound small, but what is worrying is that the trend is constantly increasing," said Mayor Jan Vapaavuori (NCP) at a situation briefing on Wednesday.
He reported what he called "explosive demand" for testing which has increased from about 80 per day to 1,000.
The mayor announced a series of measures aimed at further upgrading the capital's coronavirus response.
Among those measures are extended hours for the city's coronavirus telephone counselling service and the opening of three new testing sites. The latter will bring testing capacity up to 1,450 per day.
Coronavirus information points are to be set up at the city's seaport passenger terminals.
Vapaavuori also commented on the issue of face masks, saying that Helsinki officials are convinced that a recommendation is needed, but that the city is awaiting a government decision at this time.
However, Vapaavuori added that Helsinki is preparing for a face mask recommendation and has carried out discussions on the topic with officials in the neighbouring cities of Vantaa and Espoo.
Goodbye to cash?
Finland's largest circulation daily, Helsingin Sanomat, carries an in-depth report on how the coronavirus epidemic is strengthening the trend towards a cashless society.
The Bank of Finland monitors the use of cash on the basis of how much cash is ordered from the central bank, for example for ATMs. According to Päivi Heikkinen, Head of the Payment Systems Department, the use of cash has decreased by approximately 15 percent from the previous year based on orders and returns.
Both Automatia, which maintains the Otto ATM network, and Nokas, another ATM operator, report significant declines in cash withdrawals.
According to the OP Bank Group, cash withdrawals have plunged by as much as 40–50 per cent compared to last year's levels.
Part of the decline can be explained by a general lack of economic activity, but there was also a change in consumer payment practices.
Retail merchants also report that the coronavirus epidemic accelerated the transition from cash to other means of payment. In both the S-Group's and Kesko's outlets, the use of cash started falling in the spring and there was an increase in the use of card and mobile phone payments.
A decade ago, about one in three Finns used cash as their main means of payment, compared to less than ten percent last year. In 2019, only just over six percent used cash as their preferred means of payment.