Friday. 29.03.2024

The spread of coronavirus (or koronavirus, as spelled in Finland) continues throughout the country, but especially in the capital region. On Monday, the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) reported seven new cases, which raised the total number to 30.

Some children and staff at a school in Helsinki's Lauttasaari district have been placed in quarantine.

On Sunday evening, families of students received a message through Wilma (a web interface that allows communication between schools and parents) informing them of the measure.

Helsingin Sanomat writes that two classes of third-graders and less than ten staff members, altogether around 60 people, are placed in a home quarantine for fifteen days and must avoid contact with the public.

Referring to the Wilma message, the school has not been closed because only a fraction of the staff and pupils in these classes are exposed by the experts. 

According to Lansi Suomi, The Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District (Hus) was diagnosed with a coronavirus infection by a woman of working age who is a member of Lauttasaari primary school. She has recently returned from the South Tyrol region of northern Italy.

Ilta-Sanomat reported that she is on the teaching staff.

The woman's infection is linked to a case of Covid-19 confirmed on Friday in Uusimaa says Timo Lukkarinen, chief medical officer at Helsinki Health Centers.

School in Forssa

Of the cases reported on Monday, three are in the Helsinki and Uusimaa hospital district (HUS), one case is in Paijät-Häme (Lahti area), one case in Southwest Finland, one case in Pirkanmaa (Tampere area) and one case in Kanta-Häme hospital district.

The case in Kanta-Häme is a person who was diagnosed on Sunday after traveling to Northern Italy. It caused 31 students at Wahren school in Forssa to be quarantined for two weeks.

To date, 30 cases have been diagnosed in Finland.

Coronavirus: students and staff in Helsinki school quarantined