NordenBladet — Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has updated its action plan implementing the hybrid strategy to manage the COVID-19 crisis in accordance with the Government Resolution adopted on 22 December 2020. The Ministry sent a circular to the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, municipalities, hospital districts and other joint municipal authorities, the Regional State Administrative Agency and the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health.
The action plan of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health of 7 September 2020, adopted under the Government Resolution of 3 September 2020, has guided the authorities responsible for the implementation of the Communicable Diseases Act in using the recommendations and restrictive measures in an appropriate manner with respect to the epidemiological situation. Because the global pandemic continues and the epidemic is again accelerating in Finland as well, the action plan has been updated for the period from January to May 2021. All measures must be epidemiologically justified. To this end, the action plan describes three phases of the epidemic that are used to assess the need and targeting of restrictions and recommendations and to support decision-making at regional and national levels. Some of the details of the three phases have been amended based on experiences during the autumn 2020. The action plan describes the statutory powers to implement measures, the roles and decision-making of different authorities and the nature and contents of measures.
NordenBladet — The Ministerial Committee on European Union Affairs is of the view that the Council must still make a decision on the signing and provisional application of the agreements on the future EU–UK relationship before the end of 2020. This will prevent a “no-deal” scenario, in which the EU and UK fail to sign the agreements before the Brexit transition period ends on 31 December 2020.
The Ministerial Committee on EU Affairs adopted its position on Monday 28 December in a written procedure. The Ministerial Committee on EU Affairs stated that the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and the separate agreements on information security and nuclear cooperation negotiated between the Commission and the UK are, as a whole, in line with the EU’s and Finland’s negotiating objectives. The Committee is of the view that, in this exceptional situation, the agreements can be signed and concluded on behalf of the Union without national ratification by the Member States. The agreements would apply provisionally until 28 February 2021 at the latest. The objective is that, by then, the European Parliament will have had time to approve the agreements, after which the Council will make separate decisions on adopting them. Only after this can the agreements enter into force definitively.
“The Government considers it important that the new Trade and Cooperation Agreement can be applied immediately at the turn of the year. The agreement is not equivalent to EU membership, but it is in the best interest of both the EU and the UK in this situation, and it is much better than a ‘no-deal’ scenario. The Grand Committee of Parliament will formulate Parliament’s position on the matter at its meeting this afternoon,” said Minister for European Affairs Tytti Tuppurainen.
NordenBladet — The increase in the number of new coronavirus infections has slowed down in Finland, but new cases are still found widely across the country.
Many regions have intensified their preventive measures over the past few weeks. While restrictions and recommendations have succeeded in checking the growth of new cases, the incidence rate and need for hospital care remain at such a high level that restrictive measures should be continued. The development of the epidemic and need for hospital care will be closely monitored during Christmas and the New Year period.The total number of new cases in the last two-week period (7–20 December) was 5172, which was 965 cases less than in the preceding two-week period. The incidence of new cases was 93 per 100,000 inhabitants and in the preceding two-week period it was 111 per 100,000 inhabitants.
Number of cases in older age groups is still alarming
During the period of 14–20 December, people under 50 years of age accounted for just over 75 per cent of all cases and people under 30 years of age for nearly 40 per cent of the cases. People over 60 years of age accounted for more than 15 per cent of the new cases, while people over 70 years of age accounted for more than eight per cent of the new cases. The percentages are roughly the same as in the previous week.
On 23 December, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Finland stood at 34,084. There have been 524 deaths related to the disease. It is estimated that about 26,000 people, which is over 75 per cent of all confirmed cases, have recovered from the disease.On 23 December, a total of 258 patients were receiving hospital care due to the COVID-19 disease, and 26 of them were in intensive care. There were 97 inpatients in specialised medical care and 135 in primary healthcare. The number of inpatients was at the same level as the week before. While there were fewer patients in intensive care than the previous week, the number of patients was the same as two weeks ago.
NordenBladet — On 23 October 2020, the Government issued a national recommendation for employees to work remotely until further notice. The ministries had to assess the grounds for keeping the recommendation in force by the end of the year.
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the Ministry of Finance have assessed the development of the epidemiological situation and the effectiveness and impact of the recommendation. Starting in mid-October, the situation with regard to the COVID-19 epidemic has become significantly more difficult both regionally and nationally. Workplaces and employees have followed the recommendation widely, which is estimated to have reduced the number of close contacts at workplaces and in public transport.
Studies have shown that long-term remote work increases employees’ sense of strain at work, although the majority are still mainly satisfied with working remotely. On the other hand, many jobs cannot be done remotely. Where these jobs are concerned, the authorities have emphasised the employer’s responsibility to promote work arrangements aiming to reduce close contacts and other risk factors at the workplace.
The ministries emphasise that the epidemiological situation is still very serious and that COVID-19 is spreading throughout the country. The nationwide recommendation to work remotely can help in curbing the spread of the epidemic. The recommendation as such has not been found to have any significant negative impacts on the situation. For the reasons presented above, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the Ministry of Finance are of the view there are still strong grounds for keeping the national remote work recommendation in place in its current form. In line with the Government resolution issued on 23 October 2020, the national recommendation to work remotely will continue until further notice. Grounds for a further extension of the recommendation will be assessed by 30 June 2021.
NordenBladet — The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has updated the action plan that guides social welfare and healthcare actors in their work to curb the COVID-19 epidemic. To effectively prevent the virus from spreading, the measures must be proactive and sufficiently broad in scope.
In future, too, the epidemiological situation will be divided into three general phases: baseline, acceleration phase and community transmission phase. These will continue to be used to assess the need for recommendations and restrictions and how these should be targeted.Measures included in the acceleration phase may be justified even for the baseline if the epidemiological situation nationally or in the neighbouring areas is getting worse. If the community transmission phase seems imminent, all necessary measures must be taken without delay. Matters to be taken into account in terms of implementing the measures include the national epidemiological situation and the effects this may have on the assessment of the situation and on the need for measures in each individual area.
Immediate and proactive response to epidemiological situation
The Communicable Diseases Act obliges the authorities to take action as required by the Act to reach the objective. The authorities must respond to a worsening epidemiological situation fast and proactively by taking effective and epidemiologically relevant measures. The spread of the epidemic can be curbed with regionally targeted, timely and sufficiently extensive measures and effective testing and tracing of infections. In line with the Government’s hybrid strategy, the aim is to prevent the spread of the virus in Finland, protect the capacity of the healthcare system and shield and protect people, especially those who are most at risk.
Action plan guides the authorities
The action plan guides the authorities responsible for the implementation of the Communicable Diseases Act in using the recommendations and restrictions in an appropriate manner with respect to the epidemiological situation. The previous action plan was adopted in September 2020, in accordance with the Government Resolution. The updated action plan covers the period from January to May 2021, and it can be revised during the spring if required due to the epidemiological situation.
NordenBladet — Minister of Employment Tuula Haatainen and Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä have appointed a rapporteur to assess what measures will be needed for the aviation sector to recover from the coronavirus pandemic. The aim is to ensure that the sector can grow sustainably in the future. Rapporteur Kari Savolainen will submit his proposal to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment by 15 March 2021.
“Finland’s vitality depends in many respects on good flight connections, which cannot exist without a comprehensive network of airports. For example, many companies linked with the aviation sector are concentrated around the Helsinki-Vantaa airport where they employ thousands of people,” Minister Lintilä says.
“Aviation companies and employees have faced a severe recession. Now we need ways to improve the opportunities for the employees to find work and develop their skills. Such support has already been given to Finnair, with the TE Office in Uusimaa taking immediate action in August to help those made redundant,” says Minister Haatainen.
Ministers Haatainen and Lintilä appointed Savolainen as rapporteur on 22 December 2020. He has previously worked as CEO of Finavia, among other things. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment will also set up a separate monitoring group to support the preparation of the report and to evaluate the proposed measures. Representatives of aviation companies, interest groups and the public sector will be invited to participate in the monitoring group.
Aim is to ensure conditions for growth in aviation sector
Rapporteur Savolainen will explore measures in which the Finnish aviation sector can reach global growth as soon as travel and tourism have recovered from the pandemic. The coronavirus pandemic causes permanent changes to the operating environment of the aviation and tourism sector and to consumer behaviour. The rapporteur will examine not only how the sector can prepare for the changes but also how it can take advantage of them.The rapporteur has also been requested to propose ways to safeguard the skills of employees in an uncertain situation. That will ensure the availability of skilled workforce once the travel and tourism sectors have recovered.
The report will focus in particular on companies operating near Helsinki-Vantaa airport. The rapporteur will identify possible measures to attract more companies and investments to the area.
NordenBladet — Minister of Defence Antti Kaikkonen has authorized on 21st of December the Defence Forces to conclude a framework agreement with Bittium Wireless Ltd on procuring software defined tactical routers and their radio links.
The framework agreement covers delivery years 2021-2024 and all three Services of the Defence Forces will be using the products.The overall value of the framework agreement, without value added tax, is about EUR 30 million, with a maximum domestic employment effect of about 50 person-years.
NordenBladet — On 22 December, the Finnish Government issued a decree on vaccinations, which is needed to deploy the COVID-19 vaccination programme in Finland. The programme will use vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 that have been granted marketing authorisation in the European Union. It will be deployed once vaccines arrive in Finland. The decree will enter into force on 23 December 2020. Vaccination for COVID-19 is voluntary.
Finland will deploy voluntary COVID-19 vaccinations as soon as technically possible. Municipalities are responsible for organising the vaccinations. The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare is responsible for delivering the vaccines to the municipalities and for providing them expert assistance.
The vaccine priority groups are as follows: healthcare and social welfare workers who examine or directly treat and care for patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 disease or who provide other kinds of urgent care, and workers and residents in care homes for older adults;all those 70 years of age and older; persons at high risk for severe COVID-19 disease due to underlying health conditions; other persons than those in priority groups 1–3.
Final priority order depends on the characteristics and intended use of authorised vaccines
The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) will issue a more detailed breakdown of the priority groups based on age, risk factors, risk of severe disease or other relevant factors. It will be based on medical evidence and the therapeutic indications of the market-authorised vaccines. Vaccination of children will become topical once vaccines have been tested in children.
Doctors are responsible for planning and implementing the COVID-19 vaccination programme. Vaccine injections can only be administered by doctors or by nurses, public health nurses or midwives with appropriate vaccination training.
Healthcare and social welfare units in the public sector must organise COVID-19 vaccinations for their patients and residents and for the personnel who treat and care for them. The state will organise vaccinations in state establishments, such as prisons, state mental hospitals, state reform schools, the Finnish Defence Forces and the Finnish Border Guard.
Occupational healthcare can assist municipalities in the deployment of the programme by vaccinating employees. These vaccines, too, are bought and paid for by the state and they are delivered to municipalities free of charge. Municipalities can agree on vaccinations with occupational healthcare operators and distribute vaccines for their use. Occupational healthcare operators, too, must record all vaccination data in the Finnish National Vaccination Register maintained by THL.
All vaccination data in the vaccination register
Data on all administered vaccines must be entered in electronic patient information systems. This data includes the patient’s identification data, date of vaccination, name of vaccine, batch number, injection site, administration route and vaccinator. The vaccination data must be transmitted to the Finnish National Vaccination Register maintained by THL in real time.
NordenBladet — “The smaller you are, the bigger Christmas is.” This quote from Tove Jansson inevitably comes to mind this year as we near Christmas. At times during the past year, many of us have felt very small. We have not been able to choose the situation we are in, and at this time last year, we did not yet know that the global COVID-19 pandemic would put our everyday lives on hold as it has.COVID-19 will inevitably affect the Christmas and New Year holidays for every one of us. It is important that we all continue to follow the recommendations and guidelines in place in order to curb the epidemic. Through our actions, each of us can have an impact on what the next few months will look like.
We are still living in the midst of the crisis, and the end of the journey seems a long way away, but we are still moving towards brighter times. The shortest day of the year is already behind us. That gives us hope.
This year, we should spend Christmas with the people closest to us. Fortunately, we can also keep in touch with the loved ones we may not be able to meet with face-to-face. We can be close to one another even if we are not physically together. Let’s bring joy to one another through small actions: a Christmas greeting, a phone call or an invitation to get together online.
Our Christmas traditions may look different this year, but Christmas will still come. Christmas is a time for caring and for paying attention to others. Let’s take care of each other.
NordenBladet — The Ministry of the Interior has issued its annual decree on fees charged by the Finnish Immigration Service. The decree will enter into force on 1 January 2021. Some of the prices will be increased to better reflect the costs incurred to the agency in processing applications.
The processing fee for paper applications for residence permits submitted by employees and entrepreneurs will be EUR 690 or 610 this year, depending on whether the labour market test is applied. The previous fees were EUR 640 and 560, respectively. The processing fees for residence permit applications submitted online will remain unchanged.
The processing fees for citizenship applications will also increase. Starting at the beginning of 2021, the processing fee for citizenship applications submitted in paper form will be EUR 590 (previously 520), while the fee for online citizenship applications will be EUR 460 (previously 420).The processing fees for first residence permits and first residence permits for students will remain unchanged. The processing fees for first residence permits in the coming year will be EUR 520 for applications submitted in paper form and EUR 470 for online applications. The processing fees for first residence permits for students will be EUR 450 for applications submitted in paper form and EUR 350 for online applications. The processing fees are determined based on the costs incurred to the Finnish Immigration Service in processing the applications. The processing fee is still lower than the costs incurred in the case of first residence permit applications (excluding employee and entrepreneur permits) and in the case of residence permit applications for minors and students. Applying for international protection is free of charge.
Applicants encouraged to apply online
The Finnish Immigration Service is able to determine how processing costs are divided between online and paper applications. This is reflected in the processing fees: the fees for online applications are lower because they can be processed more efficiently and generate fewer costs for the Immigration Service. Applying online is also easier for customers, as they can submit their own applications and monitor the progress of their cases in the online service. The processing fees aim to promote the use of online services.
The processing fees also play a role in ensuring adequate resources for the Finnish Immigration Service, which helps the agency in meeting the deadlines set for processing applications. Measures are currently being taken to develop the agency’s permit processes and the electronic case management system for immigration matters.
The processing fees for all applications submitted to the Finnish Immigration Service are determined annually by Decree of the Ministry of the Interior on Chargeable Services of the Finnish Immigration Service.