Summary: Clothing a kid in Finland costs 550 euros a year on average.

Parents in Finland face a wardrobe challenge several times a year as the seasons change. It can be tricky to know what to buy, when, and from where.
 If you've moved to Finland from abroad it can be a surprise that Finnish children are expected to be outside no matter what the weather.
 "The shock is playing outside when the weather looks like the end of the world," said  Andrew Hallott , a Brit who moved to Helsinki earlier this year with a three-year-old daughter.
 He's happy with the daycare services and ethos, but the range of clothes required is quite different to Sheffield, where he's from.
 Autumn surprises
 "Those first cool mornings are always a bit of a shock to the system. Every autumn the kids go through the same routine where they resist the return of outdoor clothing after summer's freedom of shorts and t-shirts," said  Katja Zevallos , a mother of two in Helsinki.
 Finland prides itself on having four distinct seasons, but as parents can attest, most months include some form of precipitation.
 A Finnish saying suggests "there's no bad weather, just bad clothes." Kids are expected to be outside all through the year, whatever the weather. But what is the right way to dress in this unique climate?
 "Goretex and layers," said  Päivi Kuutsa , head of Helsinki English Montessori Preschool.
 It's generally time to start wearing outdoor clothing over indoor layers when the temperature drops to around 10 degrees Celsius.
 The main objective is to stay dry and to achieve this, daycare staff recommend layering rainproof coats and suits over warm jackets and pants when the weather is soggy, as it's easier to remove clothing than to be underdressed.
 Foot focus
 Cold and wet feet will quickly ruin any outing for kids as well as adults.
 "You absolutely need rainproof shoes in wet weather," said  Hannele Oja , a Lapland native who is a leading playground supervisor in Helsinki.
 Oja, who runs free outdoor-only playgroups for two to four year olds known as forest clubs ( metsäkerho ), emphasised the importance of staying dry. In forest school, toddlers spend up to three hours walking and playing in nature.
 Unlined rain boots offer little insulation from the cold once fall sets in, according to Kuutsa. She said Goretex sneakers can cut down on the number of shoes tots need, as waterproof shoes "work in any weather."
 Parents who prefer wellies should have two pairs to accommodate both warm (late spring and summer) and cold (anything below 10C) weather. Winter rubber boots are insulated and should be roomy enough for an extra pair of socks.
 Kuutsa said moisture-wicking thermal socks are her special weapon in the cold and wet, explaining that toes quickly start feeling cold in soaked cotton socks that dry slowly.
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 Child health clinics in Finland often distribute this guide illustrating layering strategies for different weather.
 Encouraging independence
 Both Oja and Kuutsa emphasised that children need to wear clothes that allow them to move around freely and explore their surroundings in any weather.
 Kuutsa noted that "bad clothes" include anything preventing children from moving about freely or hampering their budding independence.
 That said, kids should not wear things they can't manage independently, such as laces or tough buttons before they're ready, according to Kuutsa. "We want kids to wear clothes that support their desire to dress themselves and encourage their independence."
 That said, independent dressing not only improves kids' self confidence, but also helps prepare them for school.
 What about winter?
 Daycare centres in Finland used to have a -15C cold weather limit for playing outside, but this is no longer the case, according to Oja.
 "The temperature is not the only deciding element. Wind plays a big role too," Oja said, noting that gusty winds are the only factor potentially keeping hardy forest clubs indoors.
 To prevent little fingers from freezing, Oja recommends mittens instead of gloves. "Fingers stay warmer when they're together, and in a mitten you can ball your hand into a fist if you get cold."
 Parents of toddlers may also find it easier to get one little hand into a mitten than separate five tiny digits into a glove.
 Staying dry continues to be a central theme as fall turns to winter. These months can be rainy and snowy all at once, particularly in southern Finland. To keep thermal outdoor clothing as moisture-free as possible, teachers will don rain gear over kids' snowsuits, trousers and coats and even encase gloved hands inside rain mitts.
 Embrace pre-loved
 The expense of stocking up on all of the appropriate outdoor wear can be daunting, but buying used can save money. A two-parent household will spend an average of 548 euros a year on clothes and shoes per child, according to Statistics Finland, which crunched the numbers for Yle News.
 "When you pull those rubber trousers on your kid for the first time after summer, they're often too small," Zevallos explained.
 Kids rapidly outgrow things which means neighbourhood buy and sell groups as well as flea markets can be good places to source second-hand children's gear.
 Buying used is also a handy way of acquiring "backup sets" for situations too wet to fully dry overnight.
 Muddy puddles
 The day has now arrived when it has been pouring all afternoon and you've collected your sand-encrusted child from the park.
 Sand-child's outdoor clothes are soon in a wet pile in your hallway. What now?
 "The best thing to do is to hang the wet rain trousers or suit to dry in a bathroom or on a balcony. When they've dried, shake them out (outside) and wipe the clothes with a damp cloth. There's no need to machine wash outdoor wear every day. Once a week will do just fine," Oja explained.
 Spending a lot of time outdoors regardless of the weather may not always sound appealing, particularly to families arriving from milder climates.
 On this front, Oja pointed to the physical and emotional benefits of kids spending time outside where their imagination can run free. "It not only helps improve children's appetite, but also tires them out so they want to sleep."
 Heading outdoors is a mood booster for kids as well as adults, Oja said, referring to the positive mind-body connection of getting exercise in the fresh air. "Venturing outside will often improve a grumpy mood, even when it's raining."
 Andrew Hallott agrees. His three-year-old is now getting used to the all-weather play opportunities in Finland after a slightly less active spell in the UK.
 "She didn't in England but is now adapting to wet weather play, and she loves it," said Hallott.
 Quick clothing guide

How do you weather proof children in Finland?


Summary: More than half of Finnish respondents in a survey said they were a little embarrassed at the hotel buffet breakfast.

EU Interior Ministers met on Tuesday evening to thrash out a response to the Afghan crisis, and Finland was represented there by Green leader  Maria Ohisalo .
 Instinctively pro-immigration, Ohisalo might not have had a comfortable evening as the ministers argued about the use of the term 'illegal immigration'.
 Euronews  reports  that the term "is disputed due to its criminal connotations. The Commission prefers to use "irregular migration" in its official communications".
 Indeed there were  reports  during the meeting that Finland had supported an effort by some states to replace "illegal immigration" with "irregular migration" in the statement ministers were working on.
 That effort failed, however.
 The text overall emphasised managing migration and helping Afghans in the region, rather than assisting them in reaching Europe, but after the meeting Ohisalo emphasised the parts focused on helping people in the country.
 "The central message is that Afghanistan's people are not left alone in the crisis," the Green  told Helsingin Sanomat . "Especially women, children, people who've worked for human rights in the country, journalists, employees of the court system, researchers, artists and many others need support in the future too, including those who cannot leave the country."
 In Ohisalo's opinion, humanitarian assistance is the best way to prevent large-scale migration, and she noted several funding channels set up to provide that assistance.
 Big budget campaigns
 Ilta-Sanomat  has  looked at campaign budget declarations from the municipal elections, and found the biggest spender nationwide.
 That is  Elina Valtonen  (NCP), who switched from Espoo to Helsinki at the last minute after the National Coalition campaign was plunged into turmoil by the withdrawal of their mayoral candidate.
 She spent more than 78,000 euros on her campaign, or just under five euros for each of the 15,793 votes she eventually received.
 Green mayoral candidate  Anni Sinnemäki  got less bang for her buck, spending 70,000 euros to get 7,954 votes. That works out at nearly nine euros per vote.
 The full list of candidates who declared an election budget of 20,000 euros or more is available in the article, although IS has not added the candidates' final vote tallies to give an idea of how successful they were.
 Buffet boasting
 Breakfast buffets are apparently a highlight of the travelling experience for many Finns, according to a survey by an accommodation website  reported  by Iltalehti.
 In a frankly unbelievable finding, some 94 percent of Finnish respondents admitted in the survey that they wake up early in order to make the most of the bountiful opportunities to consume unlimited amounts of breakfast foods.
 Some 55 percent of people said they were a little embarrassed at their repeated trips to the hot plates and coffee urns, saying they asked travelling companions to bring them more food rather than step up themselves.
 Nevertheless, some 56 percent of the Finnish answers stated they usually took 2-4 trips to the tables to gather their most important meal of the day.

Wednesday's papers: Immigration worries, campaign budgets and buffet breakfasts


Summary: The Mauno Koivisto memorial is slated to be ready by autumn 2023.

Finland is to erect a memorial to President  Mauno Koivisto  near parliament after a design competition saw 110 entries.
 Kirsi Kaulanen's  winning design, named ' Välittäjä ' or 'The Mediator', will be a flowing construction of steel designed to evoke the role Finland played during Koivisto's presidency as an intermediary between east and west.
 It was unveiled at a ceremony on Wednesday held at the Oodi library in central Helsinki, and Kaulanen now receives a 20,000 euro prize for her effort.
 Five other entries were recognised by the judges and given a cash prize.
 The winning design will be placed next to the Little Parliament building in Helsinki. Judges said that it was an excellent fit for Koivisto.
 "It's material, polished stainless steel, reflects passers-by and the monument's surroundings as part of the work," read the prize committee's comments.
 "The work puts observers between two worldviews. That reflects Finland's geographical position between east and west and president Mauno Koivisto's role as a facilitator of co-operation."
 Koivisto was president between 1982 and 1994, a period after  Urho Kekkonen 's presidency that saw Finland's economy boom and bust alongside Glasnost, perestroika and the collapse of the Soviet Union.

"The Mediator" wins Koivisto memorial design contest


Summary: While most parties want to criminalise public use of the swastika flag, some want to wait for a decision by the Court of Appeal while the Finns Party rejected the suggestion.

The majority of parliamentary parties in Finland would be prepared to criminalise the displaying of swastika flags in public, according to the results of an Yle survey of each parties' parliamentary group.
 The survey comes after Helsinki District Court  dismissed criminal charges against five men  suspected of incitement against an ethnic group for participating in the displaying of swastika flags at an Independence Day demonstration in 2018.
 Emma Kari , chair of the Green Party's parliamentary group, told Yle she believes that public use of the swastika flag should be prohibited by law.
 "Legislation must protect against racism and discrimination. If the current legislation does not do so, then it must be rectified," Kari said.
 Story continues after the photo.
 Emma Kari of the Green Party. Berislav Jurišić / Yle
 However, Kari added that any possible ban would raise challenging issues over how and where the flag could be displayed.
 "It is a different thing to present the [swastika] symbol in a museum than to use it to incite hatred," she said.
 SDP ready for "necessary changes"
 According to the Social Democratic Party's parliamentary group chair  Antti Lindtman , the use of a swastika flag or any other symbol that violates human dignity should not be allowed in Finland.
 However, Lindtman added that his party is awaiting the outcome of the ongoing legal process regarding the use of the swastika flag on Independence Day 2018, as state prosecutor  Raija Toiviainen  has indicated she plans to appeal the district court's decision in the case.
 Story continues after the photo.
 Social Democratic Party's parliamentary group chair Antti Lindtman. Markku Pitkänen / Yle
 "If it turns out that the legislation is deficient in this respect, we are ready to make the necessary changes. In this case, it must be ascertained whether the correct method of regulation is to prohibit one symbol or whether it is appropriate to prohibit the use of other symbols that degrade human dignity in general," Lindtman said, adding that the association with the ideologies and deeds of Nazi Germany in the 1940s cannot be ignored.
 "The genocide of the Jewish people is one of the most horrific crimes and chain of events in human history. That history should not be forgotten or hidden, so its public glorification is highly questionable. It must be possible to restrict the public dissemination and presentation of Nazi ideology," he said.
 Finns Party: Individual freedoms a "greater concern"
 Ville Tavio , chair of the Finns Party's parliamentary group, told Yle he believes that it is not necessary to use legislation to ban the use of swastika flags.
 Tavio cited the  ultima ratio  -principle of criminal law, according to which the criminalisation of a problem should only be used as a last resort.
 Story continues after the photo.
 Ville Tavio of the Finns Party. Jani Saikko / Yle
 "In my opinion, this is not such a serious social problem that it requires the strongest possible intervention of the state," Tavio stated, adding that he is more concerned about the growing restrictions on individual freedoms than about the use of the swastika flag in Finnish society.
 NCP: Use of threatening symbols must be prohibited
 According to  Kai Mykkänen , chair of the National Coalition Party's (NCP) parliamentary group, the use of a symbol as incitement against an ethnic group of people or as a threatening gesture must be criminalised.
 "However, I have concerns about which symbols would be on the exclusion list," Mykkänen said, adding that in addition to the swastika, other symbols may be encountered now or in the future, which are associated with incitement against an ethnic group.
 Story continues after the photo.
 Kai Mykkänen, chair of the National Coalition Party's (NCP) parliamentary group. Petteri Bülow / Yle
 "It should be possible to think long term in regard to the legislation," he said.
 Mykkänen added that, in his view, the swastika was used during the 2018 Independence Day demonstration in a way that should be prohibited.
 "It is then necessary to clarify the legislation if a court interprets that a judgement cannot be given on that basis," he said.
 Räsänen: Swastika flags on streets are "disgusting phenomenon"
 The Christian Democrat (CD) party would also support prohibiting the use of swastika flags, as the party is very concerned about anti-Semitism, parliamentary group chair  Päivi Räsänen  said.
 Räsänen said she believes that banning the use of swastika flags in Finland should be "seriously considered".
 Story continues after the photo.
 Päivi Räsänen of the Christian Democrats. Petteri Bülow / Yle
 "The scenes of swastika flags on the streets are a disgusting phenomenon. Anti-Semitism must be combated by remembering the events that led to the Holocaust. However, we [CD party] also emphasise the need for extensive work against anti-Semitism, prohibiting use of the flag alone is not enough," Räsänen said.
 Centre: Swastika "does not belong on the streets of Finland"
 Chair of the Centre Party's parliamentary group,  Juha Pylväs , told Yle that he does not want to take a stance on the decision by Helsinki District Court, as the appeals process is still ongoing.
 However, he said that it should be possible to restrict the use of the swastika flag by law.
 Story continues after the photo.
 Juha Pylväs, chair of the Centre Party's parliamentary group. Heikki Saukkomaa / Lehtikuva
 "On a general level, public use of the Nazi flag is reprehensible, and the Centre Party's parliamentary group want to make the necessary legislative changes," Pylväs said, adding that "the flags of the Nazi regime, which committed genocide and other heinous crimes, do not belong on the streets of Finland."
 Left Alliance await Court of Appeal's decision
 Jussi Saramo  of the Left Alliance said there is no need to make legislative changes until the Court of Appeal decides on whether a crime was committed in relation to the carrying swastika tickets on Independence Day 2018.
 However, Saramo added, it is quite evident that the "public waving" of swastika flags should be banned in Finland, as has been done in other countries too.
 Story continues after the photo.
 Left Alliance MP Jussi Saramo. Benjamin Suomela / Yle
 "The reason why that flag is banned elsewhere and why it should be banned [in Finland] too is that it represents pure evil. It is sad that our society has declined in such a way that this needs to be discussed at all," Saramo said.
 SPP: Swastika flag is "particularly powerful symbol"
 Anders Adlercreutz , chair of the Swedish People's Party (SPP) parliamentary group, told Yle that his party "does not rule out" legislative action.
 "The swastika flag is a particularly powerful symbol from European history, and the decision of the district court has also provoked a debate among legal scholars," Adlercreutz said, but also added that his party is awaiting the decision of the Court of Appeal.
 Story continues after the photo.
 Anders Adlercreutz of the Swedish People's Party (SPP). Johan Hagström / RKP
 "After the Court of Appeal's decision, it will then be time to evaluate how to follow up, and we do not rule out legislative action. However, from a legal point of view, for example, this is not quite straightforward," he said.
 Ano Turtiainen: Legislation would be "endless swamp"
 MP  Ano Turtiainen , who recently founded the Power Belongs to the People Party (VKK) after he was ejected from the Finns Party, outright rejected the idea of banning the swastika.
 He argued that public use of any flag should not be prohibited by law, as such restrictions on people's freedoms could spread further.
 "The path to prohibiting [the swastika] would be like an endless swamp," Turtiainen said.
 For this article, Yle asked representatives of all parliamentary parties whether the public use of the swastika flag should be prohibited by law.  Harry Harkimo  of the Movement Now party did not respond.
 Yle News investigated the complex  history of the swastika in Finland  in 2017.

Majority of parties support banning use of swastika, Finns Party oppose


Summary: Authorities are still pushing for a total ban on e-scooter usage on weekend nights, but no final decision has yet been reached on that matter.

The top speeds of rentable electric scooters in Helsinki will be reduced at all times of the day and night, a move prompted by the increasing numbers of accidents at weekends.
 The decision was made on Tuesday, following a meeting with the e-scooter rental firms (Voi, TIER, and Lime), the Ministry of Transport and Communications and city representatives about ways to prevent accidents.
 Authorities are still pushing for a total ban on e-scooter usage at night on the weekend, but no final decision was reached on that matter on Tuesday.
 The e-scooter operators agreed to reduce the maximum speeds of the devices from 25kph to 20kph, as well as limit their speeds to 15kph from midnight to 5am across the city.
 Transport and communications minister  Timo Harakka  said the reason for the new speed limits was due to drunken accidents that bring people to emergency rooms on weekends.
 "We as a society cannot accept that private entities pass on the costs to public health care," Harakka said.
 Sweden-based scooter rental firm Voi had hoped to avoid a total nighttime weekend ban by solving the matter in other ways, but Harakka said in a press release that he wanted to make rental scooters temporarily unavailable during weekend nights in the coming autumn season.
 The firms proposed on Tuesday that the e-scooters could be made unavailable near bars and pubs at night, but Harakka had reservations about the idea.
 "It would be a lot of work to move e-scooters away from bars, and there are bars in many different areas of Helsinki. It is better to follow Oslo [Norway], where scooters are not available at all on the weekend," Harakka explained.
 Negotiations on the matter are expected to continue in the coming days.
 Story continues after photo
 E-scooter rider in downtown Helsinki. Matti Myller / Yle
 Chief physician  Arja Kobylin  of the HUS acute emergency department, among others, has called for a night-time ban of e-scooters  on weekends , on saying a ban would significantly reduce serious injuries caused by accidents.
 "The temptation to head home for the night on an electric scooter is often so great that many people choose to do it, and that's when accidents happen," she said, adding that crashes involving alcohol most often result in riders getting hurt, particularly with injuries to the head.
 Scooters and booze = injuries
 According to Töölö Hospital statistics, the facility treated 133 people for e-scooter related injuries during 22 March - 29 August, including 88 men and 45 women.
 There were a total of 69 alcohol-related accidents and 64 that did not involve intoxication, but the majority of booze-related accidents occurred on weekend nights.
 The hospital data showed that around 80 percent of e-scooter riders' accidents on weekends that resulted in injury in the city in that period were under the influence of alcohol. About 65 percent of people who suffered head injuries in the accidents had used alcohol, according to the hospital.
 Chief physician Kobylin said that in her opinion, people need to carefully weigh the benefits and drawbacks that e-scooters offer society.
 Voi: E-scooters singled out
 Scooter firm Voi's Helsinki Senior Operations Manager,  Reetta Alastalo , said she was not enthusiastic about the nighttime ban, pointing out that no other mode of transport faces nighttime bans.
 She said some of the company's customers use their scooters at night to commute to work and that the firm has received feedback that the devices were a good way to get around at night because it helps people avoid potentially being harassed.
 Alastalo added that the problem of drunken scooter riding should be enforced with laws on drivers' blood alcohol limits.
 That idea has been proposed before, including by e-scooter firms, authorities, as well as politicians.
 Story continues after photo
 Francesco Bellina / Cesura
 Minister Harakka said that enforcement of blood alcohol limits could be difficult in large cities at night.
 "Legislation is a very slow and clumsy instrument. However, we are about to make broader changes to Finland's road safety strategy and they will certainly refer to blood alcohol limits," Harakka said.
 The police have also called for guidance about alcohol limits for e-scooter riders.
 "In my opinion the drivers of all vehicles should not be intoxicated. Of course from the police's point of view, a blood alcohol limit would facilitate surveillance," Helsinki police senior constable  Jani Markkanen  said.
 Could AI help?
 The e-scooter firms have proposed other strategies to solve the problem of accidents, including offering safety courses to riders. Constable Markkanen said he thought that was a good idea.
 "Then at least people wouldn't be able to say they were unaware of the rules," he explained.
 Voi has offered traffic safety courses and people who complete the training get discounts on rental fees, but doing so is on a voluntary basis.
 Alastalo said the company has also looked into developing the surrounding technology of the battery-powered scooters to prevent drunk driving, including a smartphone app-based reaction test. The app can also use the device's phone to check if riders are wearing helmets.
 "This test will be performed between 1:00-5:00am," she explained.
 The test will be mandatory in order to start up the scooters, but people are not prevented from riding, regardless of the test results.
 Voi has also started a pilot project involving artificial intelligence and cameras that would prevent people riding on the pavement or other places they are forbidden.
 "For example the board could alert the user with an audio signal when they're on the pavement [when prohibited] to prompt them to the right lane. The pilot project also aims to look into whether the scooters could be automatically slowed down when it detects pedestrians," Alastalo said.
 Such technology could also be helpful in keeping scooters from lying on the ground, she explained, saying that users would be unable to stop the rental fee meter running unless the devices are properly parked and standing upright.
 Rentable e-scooter lying in the middle of a train platform. Laura Hyyti / Yle

E-scooter top speeds slashed in Helsinki


Summary: Compensation is based on a probable causal link between the use of the vaccine and the side effect, and must be confirmed by a doctor.

A total of 399 people in Finland have so far filed claims for damages related to experiencing adverse effects from a coronavirus vaccine.
 Under Finnish law, people can apply for monetary compensation for side effects caused by medicines or vaccines which have been authorised for use in Finland. The claims are handled by the Finnish Mutual Insurance Company.
 The firm's CEO,  Tiina Hellgren , told Yle that the number of claims is "not surprising," considering that as of Wednesday 1 September, some 6.7 million doses of the vaccine have been distributed in Finland.
 Hellgren added that the insurer has issued decisions on a little under half the claims received, with 86 claims accepted and 88 refused.
 "Compensation has been paid for the typical side effects related to coronavirus vaccines, such as various muscle and joint pains, allergic reactions and swollen lymph nodes," Hellgren said. "Compensation has also been paid for some other individual reasons, but for data protection reasons these cannot yet be revealed because there are so few cases."
 Compensation is based on a probable causal link between the use of the medicine or vaccine and the side effect, which must be confirmed by a physician and noted in the patient's records.
 With regard to claims related to serious illness or even death, Hellgren told Yle that there have been a small number of cases where unusual blood clots with low platelets have occurred in people who received Vaxzevria, formerly known as the AstraZeneca vaccine.
 "Six claims have been made for such blood clots, five of which have been accepted and one case is still pending. There were fewer than five claims in which deaths have occurred, so unfortunately we cannot discuss these cases in public," she said.

400 file Covid vaccine side effect claims as coverage nears 7m doses


Summary: The varying duration of the boys' sentences, of about eight to ten years each, were affected by how much violence they had each inflected on the victim before leaving him on the ground that night in December.

Two teenagers who were found guilty of taking part in the violent murder of another teen in the Koskela neighbourhood have expressed dissatisfaction with Helsinki District Court's verdict, the first step towards appealing their prison sentences.
 Last week the district court handed the two boys, along with a third defendant, were all convicted of murder committed as a minor. The court  sentenced  one of the defendants to a prison term of 10 years and 1 month. The second defendant was sentenced to 9 years and 2 months and the third was handed a prison sentence of 8 years and 2 months.
 On the evening of Friday, 4 December 2020, the teens lured the boy to a hospital area in the district Then, after brutally beating him, they left the victim at the scene, where his body was discovered three days later.
 The perpetrators and victim were all 16 years old at the time of the deadly attack. Their sentences were reduced on grounds that the defendants were minors at the time of the murder.
 The varying duration of the boys' sentences were affected by how much violence they had each inflected on the victim. The defendants' dissatisfaction with the verdict has so far been voiced by the teen who received the longest sentence as well as the boy who received the shortest sentence.
 "A decision about an appeal or its contents has not yet been made, but it will be made later in September," said  Dan Palvinen , the lawyer of the teen handed the shortest prison sentence.
 All three of the defendants denied the murder charge they faced. The two boys who received the longer sentences plead guilty to aggravated manslaughter and aggravated assault.
 'Brutal, cruel and humiliating'
 The defendant who received the shortest sentence only admitted to assaulting the victim. Testimony was heard that the teen was not present at the crime scene for part of the evening that the violent and prolonged attack took place.
 All three of the defendants based their cases on the premise that the killing was not intentional. Additionally, their defence was based on the extent to which each boy participated in the violence.
 However, in its ruling, Helsinki District Court found that the boy's death was intentional. It said that the defendants had jointly agreed to take part in the violence and that they must have considered the victim's death a quite probable consequence of their violent acts.
 Court-ordered psychological evaluations found that the defendants were of  sound mind  and therefore criminally responsible on the night of the killing.
 The district court's decision noted that the victim was subjected to brutal, cruel and humiliating violence for several hours and was left lying on the ground in the cold and that none of the defendants had even made an attempt to get help for the victim.
 Prosecutor still deciding
 The prosecution also has the opportunity to appeal the district court's decision, but as of Tuesday had not decided whether to submit a report about their dissatisfaction about the verdict.
 During proceedings in district court the prosecution had demanded sentences that were one or two years longer than the defendants received last week.
 "We will make a decision at the end of this week," prosecutor  Satu Pomoell  said.
 Janne Nuutinen , the victim's lawyer, said shortly after the district court handed down its decision last week that the victim's relatives accepted the verdict. During the trial, the victim's relatives had demanded that all three of the defendants receive 12-year prison sentences.
 According to the law, a complaint of dissatisfaction with a court's decision in such a case can be filed with the court within a week after a verdict is handed down. After that there is a one-month window to take the case to the Court of Appeal for consideration. In this case, that deadline is 4 October 2021.

Two teens convicted in Koskela murder move to appeal sentences


Summary: The nasal spray vaccine is based on research carried out at the University of Helsinki and the University of Eastern Finland, and testing is due to begin by the end of the year.

The composition of a coronavirus nasal spray vaccine developed in Finland has been modified over the summer to provide better protection against common viral variants, according to the spray's designers.
 "The objective is to offer the widest possible immunity against several different viral variants," Professor of Virology at the University of Helsinki  Kalle Saksela , who is leading the project, told Svenska Yle.
 The nasal spray vaccine is based on research carried out at the University of Helsinki and the University of Eastern Finland, and has so far  received "significant" funding  of about 9 million euros after  initially struggling  to attract investors.
 "It [the funding] was important for the project to progress. This would not have progressed so far as just an academic project. "Now companies that specialise in clinical trials are helping us," Saksela said.
 The updated version will provide effective protection against the Delta variant and the newer Delta Plus variant, for example, and can also work as a booster vaccine for people who have already received some protection against the virus.
 The project's developers are currently in discussions with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) about how many people must be tested during the trial period.
 "Negotiations with the authorities will take place during the autumn at the same time as vaccine production begins. We hope we can start testing the vaccine at the turn of the year," Saksela said.
 Updated vaccines must be retested on animals to ensure that it is working as intended, before it can be tested on humans. The results must also be verified by external, independent bodies.

Finnish nasal spray vaccine protects against viral variants, developers say


Summary: There were a total of 50 'heatwave' days in Finland this summer, when the temperature rose to above 25 degrees Celsius.

The summer of 2021 was the hottest in Finland since 1937, and the warmest ever recorded in Helsinki, according to data released by the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI).
 Temperatures over the months of June, July and August averaged 18.9 degrees Celsius in the capital region.
 This beats the previous record, set in 2018, by 0.6 degrees Celsius, according to  Mika Rantanen , a climate change researcher with the FMI.
 Story continues after the image.
 Rantanen added that temperatures recorded in the capital over the spring-summer season, from March to August, were also the highest on record.
 "The insane warmth in June-July contributes so much," he  wrote  on Twitter.
 Helsinki's hottest ever summer comes after a record warm autumn was recorded in 2020, Rantanen noted, and the winter of 2020 was also the warmest since Finland first began measuring temperatures in 1845.
 Finland had 50 'heatwave' days this summer
 The average temperature nationwide from June to August was the highest since 1937, and the second highest recorded over the past 120 years, according to the FMI's data.
 Overall, there were a total of 50 'heatwave' ( helleraja  in Finnish) days — when temperatures reach 25 degrees or higher — during the three months of summer. Usually the average is about 33 days.
 The highest temperature of the summer was recorded in the Heinola district of Asemantaus on 15 July, when the mercury rose to exactly 34 degrees Celsius.
 However, temperatures cooled considerably during the month of August, even dropping below the long term average in southern areas. There was also one one heatwave day during the last month of summer, when 25.7 degrees was measured in the city of Kouvola, as well as in nearby Virolahti, on 13 August.

Summer 2021 was Finland's hottest in over 80 years


Summary: Morning papers report that the decision whether to get or not get the jab has become an awkward topic during coffee breaks at the office.

Finnish law prevents employers from demanding that workers get or do not get vaccinated. However, colleagues will often inquire about each other's vaccination status during conversations in the coffee room, daily paper  Helsingin Sanomat  (HS) writes.
 HS conducted a survey asking readers whether Covid vaccinations have sparked any controversy in workplaces.
 The majority of respondents said there had been no major flashpoints in the work community regarding vaccinations, although a portion reported some awkwardness in the event of differing opinions.
 In more extreme cases, respondents said that employers had pressured them to take the vaccine by either preventing them from carrying out certain work duties or threatening to change their job description.
 "Fierce dispute" over EU regional funds
 New plans for the distribution of EU regional development funds are becoming the subject of heated debate, according to tabloid  Iltalehti .
 Provincial decision makers in eastern and northern Finland are reportedly outraged by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment's plan to "shift funding away from the poorest provinces and onto the richest ones" while regional leaders in western and southern Finland described the former's criticism as "unnecessarily harsh," according to the paper.
 The distribution of regional development funds has been prepared under the leadership of Minister  Mika Lintilä  (Cen),who refused to comment to Iltalehti as "preparations are underway and there are no new developments to report on as of yet".
 Finnish Formula 1 legend retires
 Finland's legendary F1 driver  Kimi Räikkönen  has announced he will be retiring from the sport at the age of 41.
 Gracing the front page of this morning's  Ilta-Sanomat , readers learn how the world-renowned driver took to  Instagram  to announce his decision.
 "This is it. This will be my last season in Formula 1," Räikkönen wrote adding that "it was not an easy decision, but after this season it is time for new challenges."
 Since starting his career in 2001 at the Australian Grand Prix with Sauber, Räikkönen has bagged the 2007 world championship title, competed with the cars of five different manufacturers and popped over 100 bottles of celebratory champagne at the podium.

Thursday's papers: Workplace vaccinations, "fierce" EU dispute and Räikkönen retires


Summary: The Finns Party has dropped from first place on Yle's monthly voter survey in January to third place in August.

The National Coalition Party (NCP) has extended its lead at the top of Yle's latest monthly voter survey, further building on the party's momentum from  topping the poll  at June's municipal elections.
 Support for the NCP rose by almost one percentage point to 21.3 percent during the month of August.
 Prime Minister  Sanna Marin 's Social Democratic Party (SDP) remains in second place in the poll, but voter support for the governing party slipped slightly to 18.7 percent.
 There was also a slight dip in voter backing for the Finns Party but the change of leadership does not appear to have had a major impact on the party’s overall support.  Riikka Purra   replaced   Jussi Halla-aho  as party chair during the survey period.
 The most noticeable difference for the Finns Party from the previous poll was a drop in support among male voters, according to Research Director  Tuomo Turja  of polling research firm Taloustutkimus.
 "The decline in support for the Finns Party comes almost entirely from men, but support among women has increased slightly," Turja said, adding that overall support for the Finns Party, in terms of parliamentary elections, has clearly declined throughout the course of this year.
 The party  topped the poll  in Yle's first monthly survey of the year in January, with 21.9 percent, but support for the party has since dropped by a full four percentage points to leave the Finns in third place with 17.9 percent support.
 The NCP, meanwhile, has climbed up from third place, and 16.2 percent voter support, to top the poll for a third consecutive month.
 Internal divisions within the NCP between the liberal and conservative wings, which  made headlines  during the municipal elections campaign, appear to have been resolved to some extent and supporters of both sides are now ready to vote for the party.
 "The rise in support for the NCP comes from those who voted for the Finns Party, the Centre Party and the Greens in the previous parliamentary elections. Former Green voters seem to be moving to the NCP more and more recently," Turja said.
 Left Alliance sees biggest loss in support
 As the government coalition parties prepare for  tough and potentially tense  budget negotiations, support for the Green Party increased while the Left Alliance saw a drop of one percentage point.
 Turja told Yle that some previous supporters of the Left Alliance have now moved to the sidelines, and were unwilling to divulge their party allegiances.
 The Greens, meanwhile, saw a half-a-percentage-point bump in support from the previous poll and closed the gap further on coalition partners the Centre Party in fourth place.
 The party has been in the headlines throughout the survey period, calling for  decisions to be made  on climate action as well as  proposing to increase  Finland's refugee quota as the Afghan crisis unfolded. Foreign Minister  Pekka Haavisto  (Green) has also been a prominent figure in Finland's operation to evacuate people from Kabul Airport.
 Among the other parties, there were no significant changes in support for the Centre Party, the Swedish People's Party or the Christian Democrats, while Movement Now saw an uptick in voter backing of 0.7 percentage points.
 Taloustutkimus interviewed 2,369 people between 4 and 31 August 2021 for the survey. Altogether 1,705 voters revealed their party affiliation. The margin of error was +/- 2 percentage points.

Yle poll: NCP extends lead, Finns Party loses support among male voters


Summary: The possibility of a third dose being offered to the rest of the population will be discussed this autumn, the health agency said.

The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) has recommended that a third dose of the coronavirus vaccine be offered to vulnerable and risk groups.
 Although the final decision lies with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the health agency recommended that the third dose be given to all those over the age of 12 whose immune system is reduced due to underlying health conditions.
 "In this group, a third dose would raise antibody levels and offer protection to the same level or at least close to the same levels as now present in healthy people," THL specialist  Mia Kontio  said during Thursday morning's weekly coronavirus briefing.
 The possibility of a third dose being offered to the rest of the population will be considered during autumn, the health agency added.
 Booster doses for healthcare staff, nursing home residents
 THL has further proposed that the third dose be administered as a booster to those who received the second dose in early 2021, between week three and four of the national vaccination rollout schedule.
 This group includes healthcare staff working with Covid patients as well as elderly residents at nursing homes and their caregivers.
 "We propose reinforcing the basic vaccination series for this group, as they have been given two doses in a shorter interval period compared to others; the second dose of the vaccine has long since passed and the vaccination effect is gradually waning," chief physician at THL  Hanna Nohynek  said in a press release.
 "The protection of front-line healthcare workers is significant both in ensuring their own health and securing the carrying capacity of hospitals, while elderly residents of nursing homes are at particularly high risk of severe coronavirus infections," Nohynek added.
 THL: Up to 100,000 initially qualify for booster
 A group of between 50,000 and 100,000 people would initially qualify for the third dose, according to Kontio.
 "If we get enough vaccine, we believe third doses could be offered to the entire group at the same time," Kontio said in a THL press release, but added however that "at the same time, it is important to ensure that the administration of the first and second doses of the vaccine is not slowed down due to the administration of the third doses."
 The agency said that it will provide a definition explaining which people belong to the 'immunocompromised group' in the coming weeks.
 Single dose sufficient for people recovered from Covid
 In light of new research data gathered both in Finland and abroad, THL has also recommended that patients with a previous PCR-confirmed infection be given only one dose of the vaccine instead of two.
 The health agency confirmed that recent studies have shown one dose of a vaccine provides at least as good a protection for those who have recovered from a Covid infection as that provided by two doses for people who have not had the virus.
 The agency added that municipalities can, at their discretion, reduce the interval between the first and second jab doses from eight to six weeks, especially considering the added pressure brought on by the Delta variant, according to Nohynek.
 However, she said that THL does not recommend an interval shorter than six weeks, as it would significantly compromise the immune response produced by the vaccine.

THL proposes third dose of vaccine for risk groups


Summary: Companies are struggling to fill positions due to applicants' lack of relevant work experience or suitable qualifications.

Three out of four companies are experiencing a shortage or even a severe shortage of skilled labour, according to the results of a survey of member companies conducted by Finland's Chambers of Commerce network.
 This is a significant increase on the results of a similar survey last year, which found that about half of companies faced a skills shortage.
 Furthermore, nearly 70 percent of the 1,300 companies surveyed this year reported that shortages of skilled labour have limited their growth.
 The deteriorating situation is "alarming", according to Central Chamber of Commerce specialist  Mikko Valtonen , who called for the government to take action.
 "There's a real urgency now," he said, adding that 64 percent of the survey's respondents said that more staff would be needed over the next six months.
 Skilled and qualified staff are especially needed in the fields of trade, administration, technology and data processing, as well as telecommunications, the survey's results found, while need for workers in the healthcare and services sectors is already  well documented .
 Few applicants, lack of suitable qualifications
 Many of the companies that responded to the Chamber of Commerce survey said the main cause of labour shortages is simply that there are no applicants for open positions, or the applicants that do apply do not have the required work experience or qualifications.
 Just under half of the companies reported that a lack of relevant work experience was a recurring factor in failed applications, while a quarter said qualifications were a constant issue.
 Mobility of labour — meaning the ease with which workers can move around within an economy or between different economies — was cited as a challenge by about 12 percent of companies surveyed, while a lack of language skills was reported as a problem by eight percent.
 According to Valtonen, education and training can play a significant role in improving the labour shortage problem.
 "If we look at the second half of the 2030s, the need for higher education qualifications will clearly increase. I would rather invest in having good quality education and training," he said, further noting that applicants with a vocational or polytechnic degree are especially in demand, with over 60 percent of companies surveyed saying these qualifications were desirable.
 Competition for foreign labour intensifying
 Some 40 percent of the companies surveyed said they had people from abroad, and roughly the same number of respondents said they plan to recruit foreign specialists in the future.
 Valtonen told Yle he hopes that it will be easier for skilled foreign workers and students to enter Finland, as he emphasised that competition for labour must be considered on a global scale.
 "Work-based immigration and education should be accelerated. The competition is so fierce that we have to look beyond the EU's borders," Valtonen said.
 According to Nordea Chief Analyst  Jan von Gerich , Finland's economy is recovering quickly from the coronavirus crisis, but labour supply is causing problems and central banks will soon begin to pull back the emergency measures introduced during the pandemic.

Chamber of commerce survey reveals Finland's "alarming" skilled-labour shortage


Summary: This week's show also asks why Finland forces some kids to study religion in school and explores the story of a fallen hero.

Helsinki Mayor  Juhana Vartiainen  made waves in Finland when he recently called for making the capital  an English-speaking city  to attract foreign workers. The All Points North podcast traced some of the backlash the mayor received and looked at Helsinki's increasingly diverse population.
 You can listen to the full podcast using the embedded player here, via  Yle Areena ,  Spotify  or  Apple Podcasts  or on your usual podcast player using the  RSS feed .
 Article continues after audio.
 With the school year underway, many parents are faced with choosing religious or non-religious education for their child. APN spoke to  Riku Salminen , a co-author of a citizens' initiative that wants to change a law barring members of Finland's Evangelical Lutheran Church from attending "life perspectives" classes, a non-religious alternative to faith-based lessons.
 "It's a weird twist in an otherwise secular country like Finland that one single religion has this much control over what children can study," Salminen told APN.
 The podcast also heard from the maker of a new  documentary series  on  Turku stabbing hero Hassan Zubier  who fell from grace after news emerged that he had embellished details about his life.
 "Well, I think that many people tend to put other people in a box—that either you can trust someone or they are always lying," Yle journalist and author  Matilda Gyllenberg  told APN about the drama surrounding Zubier who was severely injured in the 2017 terror attack.
 This past summer was the  hottest in Finland  since 1937. Yle meteorologist and author  Kerttu Kotakorpi  told APN that a warming planet could mean Finland experiencing temperatures some five degrees above average by the end of this century.
 And with autumn officially here, APN also looked at how to best  weather proof children in Finland  as the seasons change.
 Join the conversation!
 This week's show was presented by  Zena Iovino  and  Egan Richardson . The producer was  Mark B. Odom  and the audio engineer was  Laura Koso .
 If you have any questions or would like to share your thoughts, just contact us via WhatsApp on +358 44 421 0909, on our Facebook or Twitter accounts, or at yle.news@yle.fi and allpointsnorth@yle.fi.

APN podcast: Can Helsinki become an English-speaking city?


Summary: Ahtisaari was the tenth President of Finland, serving from 1994 to 2000, and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008.

Former Finnish president  Martti Ahtisaari  has withdrawn from all public engagements after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
 The Office of the President of the Republic released a statement announcing Ahtisaari's retirement on Thursday.
 "President Martti Ahtisaari is suffering from Alzheimer's disease and, due to advanced memory loss, is being cared for at home, and occasionally in a nursing home. The family has asked for their privacy to be respected," the statement reads.
 The former president's withdrawal from public life was also reported by the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI), an independent body that "works to prevent and resolve conflicts through dialogue and mediation". Ahtisaari founded the organisation after his presidency ended in 2000. He remained on the CMI board until 2017.
 Ahtisaari was the tenth President of Finland, serving from 1994 to 2000, and the first to be elected via a two-stage, direct popular vote, as opposed to the previous electoral college system.
 In 2008, he became the first Finn to receive the Nobel Peace Prize "for his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts" including in Iraq, Kosovo, Namibia and Indonesia.
 Both Ahtisaari and his  Eeva   tested positive  for Covid-19 in March 2020. He  recovered  from the virus about a month later.

Former President Ahtisaari retires from public life following Alzheimer's diagnosis


Summary: Doctors responsible for infectious diseases in the six biggest cities say that infection tracing should be targeted on high-risk situations.

Health authorities in Finland's largest cities say the current coronavirus infection tracing system is no longer functional and should be abandoned. A joint statement by physicians responsible for communicable diseases in the cities says there is an urgent need for national guidelines on targeting of infection tracing.
 According to the doctors responsible for infectious diseases in Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Turku, Tampere and Oulu, tracing work should focus on situations with the highest risk of infection at this stage of the coronavirus epidemic.
 Extensive quarantine orders, such as those covering workplaces, hobby groups, educational and daycare institutions, should be abandoned. In the current situation, the adverse effects are likely to outweigh the benefits, the health officials say.
 They said that health safety precautions are generally good, especially at workplaces, hobbies, schools and kindergartens, where the risk of infection spread is significantly lower than between household members or close friends.
 The physicians note that at this stage of the pandemic, municipal and hospital district staff already have solid experience as to who is most at risk of infection. The majority of infections come from within households or other close contacts.
 It is obvious that the virus cannot be completely eliminated, the doctors say. However, vaccines are effective in preventing serious illness. Therefore, the prevention of every infection at any cost should no longer be considered a goal.
 The open letter was sent to the prime minister's office, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the health agency THL.
 Tracing workload undermines other healthcare
 According to the doctors, the infection situation has changed significantly during the late summer. The incidence of Covid-19 rose exceptionally rapidly due to the more contagious Delta variant and increased close human contact amid lighter restrictions on bars and restaurants, for example.
 However, due to vaccination coverage, the number of serious cases has not risen in the same way as during previous waves of the pandemic.
 There are also tracing problems, especially in the Helsinki metropolitan area, with significant delays in identifying and contacting those exposed as some people cannot be reached during the recommended quarantine period.
 Tracing work is labour-intensive. In many places, there are too few employees for effective tracing, and recruitment has proven difficult. A significant proportion of health care professionals are already involved in coronavirus vaccinations, testing and border health checks.
 Primary health care has suffered from cutbacks during the pandemic. Yet, despite the growing number of Covid cases, some municipalities have had to shift professionals from infection tracing back to their original jobs.
 The care backlog caused by the coronavirus in primary health care is high. After the pandemic, more health professionals will be needed than before to tackle this, the physicians say.

Large cities call for more targeted Covid tracing, quarantines


Summary: The government is likely to waive the two-metre safety distancing requirement for public events within the next few days.

Finland's updated coronavirus strategy is due to be approved on Monday, Prime Minister  Sanna Marin  (SDP) said after government talks in Helsinki on Thursday.
 Cabinet ministers met at the House of the Estates in the afternoon to discuss the coronavirus situation and how society can return to post-pandemic normality.
 The revised strategy would emphasise carefully targeted restrictions to allow the safest possible re-opening of society once sufficient vaccination coverage is reached.
 "Our goal is to keep society as open as possible through vaccinations while at the same time ensuring that economic, health and social harm is kept to a minimum,” Marin said.
 According to Marin, the current estimate is that sufficient vaccine coverage will be achieved in October, when restrictions could be more widely lifted.
 The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health said earlier on Thursday that Finland could reach a vaccination rate of 80 percent by October, especially if dose intervals are shortened from eight to six weeks in line with the updated guidance issued by the health institute THL.
 More than half of the population is now fully vaccinated, with 72 percent having received at least one jab.
 2m requirement set to go
 In the meantime, the government is to decide on waiving the two-metre safety distancing requirement for public events on Friday or Monday. Several ministers arriving for Thursday's talks told reporters they thought the requirement was no longer necessary.
 Marin said earlier this week that the government parties had agreed to remove the requirement from the Communicable Disease Act. The proposal will be presented to Parliament as soon as possible, Yle has learned.
 Justice Minister  Anna-Maja Henriksson  (SPP) told reporters as she arrived at the meeting that the introduction of a Covid pass would also be discussed at Thursday's meeting.
 The pass, similar to those already in use in other European countries, could enable the resumption of large events and festivals.

PM: Updated Covid strategy likely on Monday


Summary: Increased demand is resulting in congestion at the airport's check-in area. Airport officials say that wearing a mask is essential as maintaining social distancing gaps can be difficult at times.

As coronavirus vaccine coverage rises, more people in Finland are booking flights abroad this autumn. Many trips have been booked for the school holiday period in October, for instance, according to national airport operator Finavia.
 Helsinki Airport now averages 12,000-15,000 passengers a day. A year ago, there were just 2,000 to 3,000 passengers. Before the pandemic, the corresponding figure was about 60,000.
 The increased demand for travel is reflected in intermittent congestion at the airport's check-in area, Finavia said on Thursday. It noted that in such situations, maintaining safety gaps can become difficult, so wearing a mask is crucial.
 6-year expansion project wraps up
 The congestion is exacerbated by the fact that the departure lounge is now smaller than usual due to extensive renovations at the airport. The larger space will open on 1 December, when the renovation is scheduled to be completed.
 On Wednesday, the last of the facilities and services under construction for non-Schengen flights opened, including gates 37–39, as a massive six-year expansion project wraps up.
 "We will open the new gate area 34–36 in the long-haul flight area in early September. What makes the new area special is that the gates can be used for both Schengen and non-Schengen flights. This enables us to allocate capacity as needed," said Finavia Project Director  Martti Nurminen .
 More than 700 companies and 8,000 people have taken part in the expansion of the long-haul flight area since 2015.

Intermittent crowding at Helsinki Airport as traffic begins to recover


Summary: Finland's women's ice hockey team seems under-funded.

On Friday Helsingin Sanomat  asks  itself a question dear to the hearts of many Yle News readers: why are so many highly-educated foreigners in Finland not doing jobs that match their qualifications?
 The paper talks to a Cameroonian graduate who finally found an engineering job matching his degree after years spent cleaning offices.
 His classmates with lower grades received job offers before they even graduated, but for some reason he did not. He says his confidence took a blow.
 That is until he found Pointer Potential, a company that HS says looks to find highly-educated foreigners jobs matching their skills.
 They have some 3,000 people on their books and they serve as a kind of guarantor to hesitant Finnish firms wondering whether to leave that position unfilled or to hire a foreigner. In the first year of their employment they are effectively an agency worker on the books of Pointer Potential rather than the hiring company.
 It's a necessary service, even for the Finnish branches of quite international companies.
 "Many international companies' Finnish head offices are themselves extremely Finnish," said  Johanna Korpia  from Pointer Potential. "In practice during recruitment some Finnish 'Antti' or 'Leena' for some reason gets the job ahead of a foreign applicant, even though their qualifications are weaker on paper."
 English high school?
 Aamulehti  looks at  proposals to introduce an English-language high school leavers' certificate, which Tampere and five other cities are promoting.
 The paper reports that cities have started discussions with the Ministry of Education to try and move the proposal forward.
 It's not a new idea: it's been proposed before, and officials have answered that Tampere and other places already have international high schools, where pupils take the International Baccalaureate exam.
 But that's not the same as Finland's own certificate, and the cities want to change that. Capacity at IB high schools is limited, and Finland's population is becoming ever more international.
 That means that demand will explode, and people who move here in their teenage years will be at a huge disadvantage to their Finnish- and Swedish- speaking peers if they cannot take exams in their strongest academic language.
 The last government also tried to change the law on this, but their attempt was rejected at the committee stage.
 Aamulehti reports that officials remain unenthusiastic about the idea, arguing that it might mean people moving to Finland would not learn the right languages.
 "You have to teach them Finnish or Swedish so that they can handle everyday life," said  Petri Lempinen  from the ministry.
 AL also asked kids at a high school in Tampere what they think of the idea, and got a universal thumbs up.
 Politicians might not agree, but if a decision is reached it will come in budget talks next week, according to Lempinen.
 Olympic dreams
 The top story on Ilta-Sanomat's sports pages on Friday was  women's ice hockey goaltender Meeri Räisänen's plea for financial support  as she prepares for the Olympics in China next year.
 Räisänen has just won bronze with her team mates at the world championships, but now she's returned back down to earth. With a bump.
 She tweeted a plea for sponsors to help her cover the costs of her season with the JYP Akatemia boys team, where she plays her regular hockey.
 The goal of playing with the men's under-20 team is to face tougher challenges every week, and Räisänen tells IS that most of her teammates in the national team are doing the same.
 The season costs around 5,000 euros altogether, and Räisänen does not have a sponsor to cover it this year.

Friday's papers: Under-employment, English education and a sponsorship plea


Summary: The new rules went into effect on Friday, initially as a trial that lasts until January.

Electric scooter rental firms have agreed with the City of Helsinki to temporarily shut down all of their scooters late at night on the weekends, according to the city.
 The trial affects the three electric scooter firms operating in Helsinki (Voi, Tier and Lime). It begins on Friday 3 September and continues until the end of this year, the city council said in a statement.
 Earlier this week the  rental companies agreed  to reduce the top speeds of their scooters at all times in a move prompted by increasing numbers of accidents, particularly at weekends.
 The e-scooter operators agreed to reduce the maximum speeds of the devices from 25kph to 20kph, as well as limit their speeds to 15kph from midnight to 5am across the city.
 The city said that efforts to lower speed limits on the scooters were prompted by safety problems caused by the "rapid and large-scale introduction of this new mode of transport."
 The city's traffic and street planning manager  Reetta Putkonen  said the city hopes that the speed and time limitations will reduce the number of accidents that have occurred on electric scooters, especially at weekends.
 "Renting electric scooters has become a very popular service in Helsinki in a short time, which means that they have become a pleasant addition to the mobility options for many people. However the problems that have been seen show that the new service must also be developed nimbly, in cooperation between the companies and public authorities. The need for cooperation will certainly continue over the next few years," Putkonen said in the statement.
 The release also noted that the city was looking into reducing the problems sometimes associated with e-scooter parking — including the possibility of restricting parking of the devices in certain "areas where parking is most problematic in terms of accessibility and comfort."
 "It has not been clear to all e-scooter users that the place to ride scooters is not on the pedestrian sidewalk but on the bike path or on the side of the road," the city stated.
 Voi responds
 E-scooter rental firm Voi's senior operations manager in Finland,  Reetta Alastalo , told Yle News by e-mail that the company did not think the weekend shutdowns were the right approach and that a long-term strategy was needed.
 "To help to solve the urgent problem of drunk riding here and now we are willing to trial night shutdowns. However, in the long run, we feel that nightly closures of e-scooters are not the best way to solve irresponsible behaviour," Alastalo said.
 She noted that, similar to the problems related to drink driving in cars, "we need a long-term awareness raising campaign and to enforce the existing limits on e-scooter usage at night."
 The most significant change that the scooter companies agreed to, according to Alastalo, was the across-the-board reduction in maximum speeds.
 As an alternative to shutting down use of the e-scooters on weekend nights, she said the firm suggested physically moving the devices away from nightlife hotspots.
 "We also suggested… implementing in-app features like a mandatory, slowed-down "beginner mode" and a reaction time checker," she said, adding that the company encourages riders to use helmets more than they currently do.
 Following talks with the scooter firms and the city earlier this week, transport and communications minister  Timo Harakka  said it would be too much work to move the scooters away from bars across many parts of the city, adding that it would be better to follow the example of Oslo, Norway, and ban the service on weekend nights outright.
 On Friday, Alastalo said that the problem could be addressed by police enforcing traffic laws.
 "We hope that the police will continue to focus on traffic control. Increased surveillance and the threat of a traffic error charge will encourage e-scooter riders to drive in accordance with traffic rules and are likely to reduce accidents through it. Voi is ready to share safety and mileage data with cities and other authorities as needed," she said.
 Alastalo said that the late night weekend shutdowns would not significantly affect the company's bottom line and that late night rentals did not amount to a major part of its business, adding that most rentals were done during the day.
 "Nonetheless, we have committed in many ways to improving nighttime safety as well, as for many users, such as those working at night, it is a safe and affordable way to get home without a private car," Alsastalo said.
 This article was edited at 13:19 on 3 September 2021 to add comments from Voi senior operations manager in Finland, Reetta Alastalo.

Helsinki shuts down e-scooters on weekend nights


Summary: The deal would help each employer retain staff without increasing wages.

Nurses union Tehy reported in its members' magazine on Thursday that the City of Helsinki had agreed a deal with three large private healthcare providers to prevent them poaching municipal nursing staff.
 Tehy chair  Millariikka Rytkönen  told Yle that the union started to investigate after receiving tip-offs from members.
 "We got emails that members had received from senior figures at the three firms, stating that we would recruit you, you could be a very suitable applicant, but unfortunately they can't because there is an agreement in force with the City of Helsinki," Rytkönen said.
 Tehy has filed a complaint with the parliamentary ombudsman over the matter and will seek compensation for members affected.
 The union says that Helsinki is guilty of discrimination, which is prohibited in the Finnish constitution, and preventing workers from making a living in the way they see fit.
 Helsinki's Deputy Mayor for social and healthcare,  Daniel Sazonov  (NCP), denied the allegations.
 "In my view the allegation that Helsinki is part of a cartel is senseless," said Sazonov, who did however admit that some contracts include clauses that restrict hiring practices.
 "Helsinki makes contracts to buy services and individual contracts could be such that employers cannot offer jobs providing that specific service to staff employed by the city," said Sazonov.
 Rytkönen said she had gotten huge feedback from members over the case.
 "On the basis of that it looks like these three firms are not the only ones involved, and it also looks like this model is in broader use throughout Finland," said Rytkönen. "At this stage I don't want to give more details, because we want to be sure of the facts first."
 Yle has asked for the emails on which Tehy is basing its claims, but the union has so far refused to give them to outsiders.
 The news was reported first by Helsingin Sanomat and MTV on Thursday.

Nurses' union: Helsinki and private employers operating hiring 'cartel'


Summary: Snellmann plans to distribute the meat product that it is unable to process to a competitor.

Around 20 workers at the Snellman meat processing plant in Jakobstad, Ostrobothnia, have been diagnosed with coronavirus infections, according to the company.
 The firm's managing director,  Roland Snellman , said that a total of about 50 meat processing workers have been quarantined, adding that the outbreak affected the facility's operations.
 "Production has had to be reduced somewhat for some [of our] meat products. It has been possible to counterbalance the temporary shortfall through refrigeration [of products]. Additionally, Snellman will distribute a small amount to another processing firm, like Atria or HK-Scan, to be slaughtered and butchered," he said.
 Snellmann said the worst of the Covid-related workforce shortfall was over and that internal staff transfers helped to increase production levels.
 Substitute workers helped
 "Fortunately, people who have previously worked as meat cutters, that moved to other departments, substituted the ill workers. Office workers also came to the rescue to assist with various tasks," he said, adding that the facility's coronavirus outbreak had been stopped and limited to the meat processing plant.
 The meat products that were potentially exposed to Covid-positive workers do not need to be thrown out, as coronavirus is not transmitted through food, which both the Food Safety Authority Evira and the Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) reported last year.
 The meat processing plant has seen isolated coronavirus exposure and infection incidents, but those incidents only affected production minimally.
 The Jakobstad facility employs about 800 workers, with about 200 workers at the meat processing plant, half of which are butchers. The company said that some of the quarantined workers would be returning to work on Friday and that a larger group of employees would be back on the job next week.

Covid outbreak hampers production at meat processing plant


Summary: The initiative sought to prevent the privatisation of Finland's water supply, and is the first to receive unanimous backing from MPs.

A citizen's initiative entitled 'Water is ours' (Finnish:  Vesi on meidän ) has been unanimously approved by Parliament.
 The initiative had sought to prevent the privatisation of Finland's water supply, and to date is the first such citizen's initiative to receive unanimous backing by MPs. Parliament has previously approved only two other citizens' initiatives.
 The proposal was brought to Parliament after  collecting more than 89,000 signatures , well over the required 50,000 threshold.
 The 'Water is ours' initiative was launched by six members of the Left Alliance Party from across Finland, including  Olli Kohonen , chair of the party's Northern Ostrobothnia branch.
 The privatisation of water supply has led to rising water prices, the Left Alliance politicians argued, negatively affecting the quality of the water as well as the environment.
 "Prices have risen, the level of service has suffered, and the environment has suffered. Health security, which is becoming increasingly important today, could be a problem if water supply were given to an operator who wants to make a profit from it," Kohonen said at the time the initiative was passed to Parliament.
 Kohonen initially began the initiative after learning about the City of Jyväskylä's plans to sell a minority stake in its water and energy company last year.
 The approved initiative will now enter the legislative process of being turned into a bill, which will be debated and voted on by Parliament at a later date.

Parliament unanimously approves "Water is ours" citizen's initiative


Summary: The prosecution had demanded slightly longer sentences of 12, 9-and-a-half and 11 years. The three defendants still have the option to appeal the court's decision.

Helsinki District Court on Friday handed down prison terms to three teenage boys for taking part in a violent attack that left another boy dead in the Koskela district late last year. All three were convicted of murder committed as a minor.
 According to previous testimony, the teens lured the boy to a hospital area in the district on the evening of Friday, 4 December 2020. Then, after brutally beating him, they left the victim at the scene, where his body was discovered three days later.
 The perpetrators and victim were all 16 years old at the time of the deadly attack.
 Testimony also showed that the boys had assaulted and relentlessly bullied the victim at the same location every Friday for a period of three weeks.
 Following court-ordered psychiatric evaluations, the young defendants were found to be  criminally responsible  for their actions.
 On Friday, the district court sentenced one of the defendants to a prison term of 10 years and 1 month. The second defendant was sentenced to 9 years and 2 months and the third was handed a prison sentence of 8 years and 2 months.
 Prosecutor wanted longer sentences
 The prosecution had demanded slightly longer sentences of 12, 9-and a-half and 11 years.
 The boys were convicted of charges including manslaughter committed by a minor, as well as other crimes including assault and robbery committed by a minor.
 Since the defendants were minors at the time of the crime, the penalties were less severe than if they had been adults. The court said its sentencing was also influenced by the extent to which each of the defendants had taken part in the violence.
 According to the court, the defendants must have known that it was likely the victim would die as a result of their actions.
 The defendants are jointly obliged to pay the victim's parents 12,000 euro, each, for pain and suffering.
 The defendants were ordered to remain in custody. The boys have been held in pre-trial detention since 10 December 2020.
 The district court ruling is not final, as the verdicts and sentencing can still be appealed.
 When sentencing is eventually finalised, due to being convicted as minors, the defendants will be able to apply for parole after serving a third of their sentences.
 4.9: Clarified that all three were convicted of murder.

Teens handed 8-to-10-year jail terms over brutal Koskela killing


Summary: The information obtained by the hacker has been mainly used to send new phishing messages.

At the University of Oulu, the usernames and passwords of students and staff fell into the wrong hands this week, according to the institution.
 The passwords of 700–800 people were acquired by data phishers,  Kaarlo Määttä , IT Security Manager at the University of Oulu, told Yle.
 IT-management at the University of Oulu has blocked certain usernames and changed passwords to prevent further damage. The university said it was weighing whether to file a criminal report with authorities.
 The hacked data was acquired using a so-called phishing email, a process that involves tricking someone to reveal personal information like passwords. If the targeted victim of the phishing expedition complies, their information ends up in the hands of the hacker.
 The university said that the breached email accounts were mainly used to send new phishing emails. Messages were received by those with university addresses, mainly students. Määttä estimates that thousands of people received the message.
 "What concerns me is that so many have fallen for the message that was sent to them," he said.
 A change of password is now recommended for anyone accessing the university network.
 The University of Oulu first announced the breach on its website on Wednesday, after the phishing attempt came to light that morning, when users and the customer service department brought up the matter.
 IT-management then received a list of user IDs whose information had been leaked, according to Määttä. However, there was no way of being certain that the problem had been curbed, he said.
 "Considering the scale of the matter, the situation is under reasonably good control," Määttä said, adding that whether financial damage had occurred as a result of the breach was being assessed.
 The University of Oulu has a community of about 20,000 students and members of staff.
 Newspaper Ilta-Sanomat was the first to report on the matter.

Personal data of hundreds compromised in phishing attack at Oulu University


Summary: Teenagers are worried about Covid and the climate.

Finnish teenagers are most worried about climate change and Covid, according to a survey by the UN's agency responsible for children, Unicef.
 The poll asked more than a thousand children aged between 13 and 18 what they were most worried about.
 Climate change came top, with more than 70 percent of those who answered saying they were concerned about it. Respondents also said their experiences of discrimination, bullying and scarcity of mental health services had adversely affected their wellbeing.
 The majority of respondents were girls.
 Respondents said that family and friends are the most important parts of a good, enjoyable life, yet one in five respondents said they did not have an adult in their life they felt they could trust.
 Many respondents said they did not think teachers and other adults in schools understood how different children and young people's backgrounds were. Nearly 40 percent said they feared discrimination or bullying in school.
 There was low confidence in adults generally, with just one in four respondents saying that municipal decision-makers understood children and young people.
 More than 40 percent said they did not think it was possible to take part in hobbies at a reasonable cost in their municipality.

Survey: Young people worried about the future


If the proposed coronavirus passport is implemented, testing for it would be done through private healthcare at each user's expense, according to  Mika Salminen , Director of Health Security at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).
 The government has promised decisions on its new Covid strategy on Monday. This may include the introduction of a coronavirus passport similar to those in use in Denmark and elsewhere. The document certifies that the holder has either been vaccinated, recently tested negative or recovered from the illness.
 "The coronavirus passport could be used to ensure that most people are protected when people get together. That would prevent the majority of infections from spreading," Salminen told Yle on Saturday.
 Unvaccinated people could also get a coronavirus passport, but that would require proof of a negative test. Public health care could no longer cope with this growing need for testing, said Salminen.
 "This is in the hands of the government, but I understand that the testing required for the coronavirus passport is to be left to commercial operators. The current testing model and the capacity of the health sector are insufficient. In other words, if you want to go to a bar, for example, but don't want to take the vaccine, the alternative will probably be to take the test and pay for it yourself," he said.
 Various ministries have proposed that Covid passports be used at places such as swimming pools, sports centres and gyms, but not for essential services such as grocery stores, hairdressers, post offices, pharmacies or libraries.
 Salminen described the coronavirus passport as a temporary measure, explaining that the need for a coronavirus passport would be eliminated when the population reaches a sufficient level of immunity.
 Vaccine coverage will still determine how quickly restrictions can be lifted in Finland. The government is aiming for 80 percent full vaccine coverage next month, but Salminen said that no absolute correct limit can be set.
 "We have to get used to the fact that there will be some infections despite vaccinations. The situation will become relatively normal, especially if we give up on our fears," he said.
 As of Saturday, 72.3 percent of the population had received at least one dose of vaccine, with 52.5 percent fully inoculated.
 According to Salminen, a return to normal is already in sight, since as of next week Finland will have received enough doses to achieve 80 percent coverage.
 New legislation needed
 The pandemic has highlighted some of Finnish society's weaknesses in preparedness, but also provided an opportunity to learn, said Salminen.
 "There is a clear need to review the legislation on preparedness as well as the appropriate and proportionate use of control measures. There have been challenges in these areas," he said.
 For instance, at first it was difficult to for one organisation to have an adequate overall picture of the crisis for society as a whole.
 "Lessons should be learned from the regional coronavirus coordination groups, which are informal. It would be good to replace them with something more permanent for the future," Salminen suggested.
 Salminen was interviewed on the Yle TV1 current affairs programme  Ykkösaamu .
 13.54: Vaccination rates updated

Covid pass tests likely to be carried out by private sector at user expense


Summary: Two-metre safety distancing and block divisions of auditoriums and other venues are no longer required.

Restrictions on gatherings throughout Uusimaa have been relaxed as of Saturday, says the Southern Finland Regional State Administrative Agency (Avi).
 The two-metre social distancing requirement and the block division requirement for venues in the Helsinki region have been waived, and up to 50 percent capacity may be allowed in for indoor events.
 The Southern Finland Avi made its decision on Friday afternoon was based on an assessment by the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Coronavirus Coordination Group, led by the Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District (HUS). The panel recommended easing restrictions at its meeting on Tuesday.
 Pandemic still straining Uusimaa healthcare
 The pandemic is still straining the healthcare system in Uusimaa, Finland's most populous region, largely because of expanded testing and tracing. However, according to the hospital district's assessment, the situation has changed so that assembly restrictions can be relaxed. The number of patients in hospitals, including intensive care units, has not changed much since last spring.
 The Avi decision is in effect through at least 30 September.
 According to Avi Senior Inspector  Oona Mölsä , the snap change was possible because of recommendations from health authorities.
 "We received a prediction that mitigation [of the pandemic] may be possible soon. And because we are not allowed under the Communicable Diseases Act to retain tighter restrictions and restrict fundamental rights any longer than is necessary, the decision will come into force tomorrow," Mölsä told Yle late Friday.
 The Avi will still continuously monitor the situation with the regional coordination group and amend or revoke the restrictions as necessary.

Restrictions on gatherings relaxed in Helsinki and Uusimaa region


Summary: Language courses are difficult to locate, and the proficiency gained through them is seen as insufficient by employers.

Like many other immigrants,  Kimberley Gowdy , an American who lives in Lahti, is highly educated. She has studied linguistics and, as part of her professional history, been a university educator, an expert in e-products, a translator and business analyst. She is fluent in English, Spanish and French.
 In Finland, however, Gowdy has not been a sought-after employee because she does not speak fluent Finnish.
 Gowdy blasts the difficulty of finding appropriate Finnish-language courses. What the employment office considers adequate language skills are not enough for the employer.
 "There are no courses to fill this gap. We are marginalised because we cannot go any further. This is how we become forced to work as cleaners or caretakers. Why would I have to work in those professions and abandon my dreams? It's not fair," she says.
 According to a survey commissioned by the Kotona Suomessa project ( At Home in Finland ), last year, almost half of the companies suffering from labour shortages want employees that come from a foreign background to speak native-level Finnish.
 The requirements remain strict, even though, according to a survey by the Finland's Chambers of Commerce, three out of four companies suffer from a shortage of employees in Finland. The situation will worsen as more and more professionals retire.
 The labour shortage will not end just by lowering language skill requirements. In the survey, companies estimate that only eight percent of recruitment challenges are due to applicants’ lack of fluency. But lowering the language requirements would help thousands of companies get the much-needed workforce and at the same time employ a larger number of immigrants.
 Employing immigrants by re-arranging work assignments
 Many jobs require a strong knowledge of Finnish from all their employees, even if the requirements for the positions vary.  Botond Vereb-Dér , project manager of the Lahti TalentHub project in Päijät-Häme, hopes that companies will think more carefully about the tasks for which Finnish is essential. For example, in a restaurant, a kitchen employee does not necessarily have to know Finnish as well as a waitress working in customer service.
 According to Vereb-Dér, employers could also re-arrange assignments, so that not all employees provide customer service.
 Prejudice behind the language requirements
 Anna Bruun , a ministerial advisor on migration and integration policies at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, thinks that there may be conscious or unconscious bias behind the high language requirements. An employer may require employees to have unnecessarily high language competency due to their own uncertainty. For example, an employer may think that work-permit issues could be difficult to resolve or have a fear that an immigrant might change the work community.
 Many employers have prejudices against people of foreign background.  Akhlaq Ahmad , a sociology researcher at the University of Helsinki, conducted a test in 2016-17, in which he sent out 5,000 job applications, with both Finnish and foreign-sounding names. These fictitious people all spoke good Finnish. The jobseekers with Finnish-sounding names received the most interview requests, by far.
 Bruun admits that changing employers’ attitudes is a slow process. The Ministry's Talent Boost program for acquiring and applying international know-how has been underway since 2017.
 In Bruun's opinion many things have improved. For example, employers are being offered more support and information about hiring immigrants. The process regarding the resolution of work permits has also been accelerated.
 Immigrants encouraged to become entrepreneurs
 Another option is to encourage immigrants to start their own businesses. You can succeed on your own, even if the conjugations of words are not always perfect. Bruun sees entrepreneurship as a good option, as long as immigrants are not forced to become entrepreneurs because there are no other options.
 Gowdy attended TalentHub's entrepreneurship course in Lahti during her maternity leave. Now she bakes gourmet cookies and other pastries as part of her own company.
 "In America, we say that when you follow your passion, the money will follow," she says.
 Even as an entrepreneur, Gowdy has not completely escaped language barriers. She is frustrated by how difficult it is to compete against native Finnish competitors. Gowdy has also found it difficult, at times, to find official information on the authorities’ webpages, utilising her current language skills.
 Despite these difficulties, Gowdy believes in her company and has already found vendors who want to sell her product. Her intention is to expand her business abroad, not just conquer the domestic market.

Finnish employers often require native-like fluency from immigrants, restricting job prospects


Summary: Southern Finland saw readings as low as –2.3C, but could see +20 again later in the week.

Early Sunday morning brought the first frost to many parts of the country, the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) reports. The coldest was in Salla, eastern Lapland, where the mercury sank to -4.7 degrees Celsius.
 Sub-zero nights have been recorded since August in the northern and central parts of the country, but now they have reached nearly to the south coast.
 For example, in Vihti, Uusimaa, some 50 km from Helsinki, the night-time low was -1.9 degrees. In Lappeenranta, South Karelia, a reading of–2.3 was measured at the Konnunsuo weather station, near the Russian border.
 However, the northern airflow will give way to warmer air moving into Finland from the west this week.
 Increasing cloudiness is expected during the day on Sunday, but southern and central parts of the country should remain dry, although there is a chance of isolated showers.
 Up north, rain in the far northwestern arm will move to other parts of Northern Lapland. Central and southern parts of Lapland will be mostly dry.
 Daytime temperatures range between 10 and 14 degrees in southern and central part of the country and 7-12 degrees in Lapland.
 Warmer week ahead
 Milder conditions will return early Monday as a warmer air mass flows into Finland from the west. Overnight lows will be around 6-8 degrees on the south coast, rising to around 16-17 on Monday, slightly chillier towards the east. Temperatures remaining in the single digits in northern Lapland, with a chance of rain through Wednesday.
 Daytime temperatures are set to rise again, as the warm air mass is forecast to remain over Finland next week. At least in the south, temperatures should be in the upper teens, even approaching 20 degrees through Saturday.

First frost in southern Finland, warmer weather in store


Summary: The weekend average was slightly below other figures in September so far. Meanwhile 14 cases of the newer Mu variant have been found in Finland.

On Sunday the THL Institute for Health and Welfare said that 910 new Covid infections had been diagnosed in Finland. On Saturday the THL's communications department said that a low number of infections reported then, 87, was incorrect.
 It told the Finnish News Agency STT that the figure was erroneous and that the technical issue would likely be fixed with Sunday's infection rate update.
 Saturday's 87 would have been the lowest daily figure since mid-June, and far below recent weeks' average of 500-700 a day.
 The two numbers together give a daily average of just under 500, slightly lower than the average so far in September.
 Similar anomalies occurred on weekends in June and August. On the first Saturday of August, the THL also reported an improbably low infection rate, but corrected the whole weekend tally on Monday.
 Little change in fatality and hospitalisation figures
 The weekend numbers bring the overall total to 130,102 cases since late January 2020.
 The THL noted in a tweet on Saturday that since June its technical support staff has only been working on weekdays, when any reporting errors are corrected.
 The THL also only reports fatalities and hospitalisation data on weekdays.
 On Friday it announced one more death, bringing the total to 1,031 since late March 2020.
 The institute also said that there were 91 patients in hospital nationwide, 21 of them in intensive care units. Following a peak in late March 2021, those figures have not changed significantly during the summer, except for a slight uptick early last month.
 HBL: 14 cases of Mu variant
 On Friday the daily  Hufvudstadsbladet  reported that so far 14 cases of the Mu variant of the coronavirus have been confirmed in Finland, citing THL data.
 The Mu or B.1.621 variant was first identified last January in Colombia, where it now accounts 39 percent of all cases. The World Health Organisation (WHO) earlier this week classified it as a "variant of interest" due to properties that may make it vaccine-resistant.
 According to the THL, virtually all Covid infections in Finland at the moment are of the highly infectious Delta variant.

THL Covid infection figures fluctuate due to technical problems


Summary: Later on Sunday, the government proposed to Parliament that the two-metre spacing requirement be dropped.

According to Prime Minister  Sanna Marin  (SDP), the government plans to release its new hybrid coronavirus strategy on Monday.
 Speaking during the traditional Prime Minister's interview hour on Yle Radio Suomi on Sunday afternoon, Marin said the cabinet would meet in an unusual Sunday session to agree on issues such as the removing the requirement for two-metre social distancing in public.
 Marin said that several changes would be made to the Communicable Diseases Act in addition to waiving the two-metre requirement.
 She said that the goal is to get rid of all restrictions once vaccine coverage is high enough, i.e. more than 80 percent of the population over age 12, which could come next month.
 As of Sunday, 53 percent of the entire population were fully inoculated, with more than 72 percent getting at least one jab. More than four million people have now received at least one dose of vaccine.
 Coronavirus passport to Parliament soon
 The government will present its plan for a coronavirus passport to Parliament in mid-September, Marin said, adding that she expects quick approval.
 "I believe and hope that Parliament wants to deal with it quickly so that we'll have this tool in place by October as well," she said.
 A coronavirus passport is a certificate stating whether the passport holder has been vaccinated, recently recovered from the illness, or has had a recent negative test result.
 In an interview, Marin said that she shares the view that Finland could return to normal within one to two months, as expressed a day earlier by  Mika Salminen , health security directorat the national health agency THL.
 "This is an estimate that the government has received. Once 80 percent vaccine coverage is achieved, restrictions will be lifted. Now the estimate is that we'll reach that situation in October," Marin said.
 Marin welcomed the THL's decision to change its policy on vaccine intervals, now allowing second doses to be given six weeks rather than eight weeks after the first, saying this was essential to improve vaccine coverage.
 Government asks Parliament to drop 2m requirement
 Later on Sunday, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health said that the government had proposed to Parliament that the two-metre requirement be dropped.
 The government proposed to amend part of the Communicable Diseases Act that covers the conditions for the use of facilities for customers and participants to prevent the spread of the virus.
 "The exact definition of close contact as well as the incidence rate as a criterion for application would be removed from the article. The proposed definition of close contact, which is to be deleted, refers to the presence of people indoors at a distance of less than two metres for more than 15 minutes or physical contact with each other," the ministry said in a statement.
 Instead, close contact would be defined by regional government agencies or municipalities on a case-by-case basis, it said.
 17.57: Updated with ministry statement

PM Marin: Return to normal possible in October, Covid passport to Parliament soon, 2m rule to be dropped