NordenBladet — The current epidemiological situation is characterised by rapid regional developments. Finland still has good opportunities to keep the situation relatively stable by international comparison. This requires that people continue to stay alert and patiently follow the guidelines and recommendations issued by the authorities. We should not be lulled into thinking that the epidemic will end quickly.

To prevent the spread of the epidemic, it is necessary to continue to take timely and sufficiently extensive regional measures, provide rapid testing and trace infections effectively. Currently, the estimated basic reproduction number is 1.15–1.2, with a 90 per cent probability.

During the period of  2–8 November, the majority of the new cases were of domestic origin. Cases where the virus was contracted abroad accounted for about eight per cent of all new cases, leading to only a small number of further infections. During the latest period (2–8 November), a total of 1,397 new cases were reported to the communicable diseases register, while in the previous week the number of reported cases was 1,452. The incidence of new cases was 25 per 100,000 inhabitants, while in the previous week it was 26.The total number of new cases in the last two-week period (26 October – 8 November) was 2,849, while in the preceding two-week period (12–25 October) it was 2,499. The incidence of new cases was 51 per 100,000 inhabitants and in the preceding two-week period it was 45.

Case numbers increasing in biggest cities
On 11 November 2020, seven regions reported having entered the acceleration phase. These regions are the Hospital Districts of Helsinki and Uusimaa, Kanta-Häme, Länsi-Pohja, Pirkanmaa, Vaasa and Southwest Finland and the Åland Islands. The remaining 14 hospital districts are at a stable level, but there are individual cities and towns situated in some of these hospital districts that have entered the acceleration phase. These cities and towns are Kouvola, Kuopio, Siilinjärvi and Rovaniemi.In the biggest cities in Finland (Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Tampere and Turku), the number of cases has increased. In many regions, however, the epidemic has been brought well under control, and as a result, the epidemiological situation has calmed down in these regions. This is the case in Vaasa, for example.

Most of the new cases are still reported among young adults, but the number of cases has increased slightly among older age groups, too. It is important to protect people, especially those in risk groups.

Efforts are always made to identify sources of infection
The source of infection was identified in about 55 per cent of all new cases. This is slightly less than during the previous week. In the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa, the source of infection was known in about 40 per cent of the cases during the period of 2–8 November. As for the rest of the country, the source of infection was known in about 80 per cent of the cases.

Similarly to the previous weeks, about one third of all new cases in Finland were reported among people already in quarantine. Currently, more than half of the infections that are traced (56 per cent) have been contracted from people living in the same household. Cases where the virus had been contracted in various social situations (private gatherings or gatherings among friends and family) accounted for 15 per cent of the cases. In about 10 per cent of the cases, the virus had spread at workplaces, and in about seven per cent of the cases, it had spread through recreational activities. Most hospital districts reported cases of students with COVID-19, but the virus had, as a rule, been contracted somewhere else than in the school environment. These cases did, however, led to the quarantine of students and teachers, although further infections were rare. Only isolated cases of COVID-19 were reported in early childhood education and care. In less than four per cent of the cases, the virus had spread at food and beverage service establishments. This suggests that the restrictive measures have been effective.

Slight increase in the number of people requiring hospital care
The number of patients requiring hospital and intensive care is still relatively low, although the number of patients has grown in recent weeks. On 11 November 2020, a total of 73 patients were receiving hospital care due to the COVID-19 disease, and 14 of them were in intensive care. It is estimated that about 14,000 people, which is nearly 75 per cent of all confirmed cases, have recovered from the disease. The total number of confirmed cases in Finland now stands at 18,345. There have been 365 deaths related to the disease.

The monitoring report on the epidemic published today and the previous reports are available on the website of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare:Monitoring coronavirus (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, in Finnish)COVID-19 epidemic: situation in regions, recommendations and restrictions (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare)Action plan for implementing recommendations and restrictive measures under the hybrid strategy following the first phase of the COVID-19 epidemic (Publications of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health 2020:26), only description sheet available in English)

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — In future, it will be possible to pass the initial qualification requirements for lorry, bus and coach drivers by completing a qualification examination only. Further provisions on the completion of the examination will be laid down in a decree that will enter into force on 16 November 2020. The decree also lays down further provisions on, for example, the organisers and evaluators of the examination as well as on the requirements for simulators to be used in the examination.

The purpose of the model is to offer a more flexible alternative for completing the driver qualifications. The model will, among other things, speed up and facilitate access to the profession for those who already have expertise in the field.The Government issued a decree on the matter on 12 November 2020.The examination model measures the same skills as the current training alternative, but the evaluation is based on the test only. The test in the examination model differs from the one included in the training model.

The initial qualification test consists of a theoretical examination and a practical test. The theoretical examination must consist of at least two parts, one of which may include multiple choice questions and questions to which written answers are required, or a combination of these. The second part of the theoretical examination must consist of situation review tasks, which may include questions based on a written event description, images and videos.A maximum of 30 minutes of the practical part of the initial qualification test may be carried out on a simulator or a driver training track. The simulator used in the test must be of a high quality and have a wide view. The control devices in the simulator must correspond to the ones used in vehicles of the driving licence category in question. The test performance must not be guided by the software used in the simulator.

Stricter qualification requirements for evaluators
There must be at least two evaluators of an initial qualification examination. At least one of the evaluators must be qualified to act as the party responsible for the examination. In order to ensure the high quality of the examination, the party responsible for the examination is subject to higher qualification requirements than the party responsible for the training.

The party responsible for the examination must meet the professional qualifications of a lorry, bus or coach driver and have a driving instructor licence. They must have completed the pedagogical studies for a teacher and passed the part of the examination for a specialist vocational qualification as a transport instructor concerning qualification trainers.

In addition to these, they must have at least one year’s experience of full-time driving of heavy vehicles, or alternatively a vocational qualification in the passenger or goods transport sector or a vocational qualification in logistics.Separate provisions will be laid down on the qualification requirements for the evaluators and the evaluator responsible for the examination.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — The European Union has appointed Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Anne Meskanen to serve as Deputy Head of Mission for the European Union Advisory Mission in Iraq (EUAM Iraq).

Anne MeskanenFounded in 2017, the European Union Advisory Mission Mission in support of Security Sector Reform in Iraq supports security sector reform in Iraq. The mission is mandated to provide advice and expertise to Iraqi authorities in the Security Sector Reform (SSR) to ensure a coherent implementation of the civilian related aspects of the reform.EUAM Iraq provides advice and expertise to Iraqi authorities in matters related to diverse elements of the reform, including how to fight terrorism, organised crime, money laundering and corruption and to develop border security, as well as on human rights, security legislation and human resources management. The aim is to establish an efficient civilian security sector, which complies with the principles of good governance and respects human rights, and which enjoys popular confidence.

The mission employs 60 international experts and 25 locally employed staff. Ten Finnish experts are posted to serve in the mission. The mission is based in Baghdad. The candidacy and appointment of Anne Meskanen continues to reflect Finland’s consistent policy aiming at the stabilisation of the situation in Iraq. Meskanen has extensive experience of international positions. She has served as Finnish Ambassador to Afghanistan, Head of Mission at the Finnish Embassy in Kosovo, and Deputy Head of Mission at the Finnish Embassy in Damascus. In addition, Meskanen has worked at the Permanent Mission of Finland to the UN and at the Finnish Embassy in Romania.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — Microloans that increase women’s income and strengthen their financial independence. Better food security through financing targeted at smallholder farmers. Companies where half of the management are women. Finnfund, a government-owned development financier, has invested recently in companies of this kind in developing countries. The key aim is not only profitability, but to also promote equality.

E-commerce platform Kasha makes reliable contraceptives, menstrual care products and self-care products better available in East Africa. Photo: FinnfundImpact investment has become an increasingly important form of investment in the world and is growing at a quick pace. Finnfund’s impact investments are one channel for Finland’s development cooperation appropriations.Improving the position of girls and women is a priority in Finland’s development policy and also one of the key goals of Finnfund’s investments.

In 2019, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs granted Finnfund a EUR 105 million loan as a development policy investment to be invested in projects that promote equality in 2019–2021. During one and a half years, Finnfund has already tied more than EUR 120 million to targets that strengthen the financial independence of women in developing countries or provide important services for girls and women. The goal set for the government loan was achieved ahead of time.

Ville Skinnari, for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, considers investment in equality and companies in the developing countries important.”Investing in girls and women is always wise and useful because gender equality is the precondition for sustainable development in society. It is especially important now as the coronavirus pandemic especially hits women-dominated sectors in the developing countries. Promoting gender equality through business investments is also an internationally growing phenomenon, and Finland is strongly involved in it,” Skinnari says.Women in the management and as customers

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — Finland intends to propose the Saimaa ringed seal habitats in the Lake Saimaa archipelago as a new natural site to be inscribed on the UNESCO’s list of World Heritage sites. Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Krista Mikkonen told about the process to update the tentative list at the World Heritage Forum on 11 November.

The aim of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention is to ensure that the world’s most valuable natural and cultural heritage sites are preserved. The inscription of a site on the World Heritage list requires that it is of special global significance and the preservation of its values has been ensured.“According to the National World Heritage Strategy, the sites Finland proposes to be inscribed on the list must be of very special value. This is what the Saimaa ringed seal habitats truly are. The protection of Saimaa ringed seal has become the symbol of nature conservation in Finland, and it requires constant efforts,” Mikkonen says. The population that at its lowest was just 130 to 160 individuals has now recovered to about 400 individuals. However, climate change is a serious threat to the Saimaa ringed seal population as well.The proposed World Heritage site is part of Lake Saimaa, the largest lake in Finland. What Finland is proposing is a so-called serial nomination that would mainly consist of state-owned protection areas included in the Nature 2000 network. “The national urban park envisaged to be set up in Savonlinna and restrictions on net fishing would significantly support the approval of the project at UNESCO,” Mikkonen says.

The tentative list of Finland is currently being updated in accordance with the World Heritage Strategy. The archipelago habitats of Saimaa ringed seal is the proposal of the Ministry of the Environment and Metsähallitus for a natural World Heritage site. Metsähallitus is a state-owned enterprise that manages state-owned lands and waters in Finland. The Ministry of Education and Culture will give its proposal for the cultural sites later on. The proposals will be included in the national tentative list as sites that Finland will nominate for inscription on the list of World Heritage sites. The Ministries aim to submit the tentative list updated with the new sites to UNESCO in January 2021. The decision on the sites to be inscribed on the list of World Heritage sites is made by the World Heritage Committee composed of 21 state parties to the Convention. “Our aim is that the Committee could decide on the inscription of the Saimaa ringed seal habitats in Lake Saimaa archipelago on the list of World Heritage sites at its meeting in 2024,” Mikkonen says.At the moment there are a total of 1,121 sites on the list, of which 213 represent natural heritage. Finland has seven World Heritage sites on the list, six of which represent cultural heritage and one, the Kvarken Archipelago, is a natural heritage site.The estimated costs of the project in 2021–2023 are about EUR 210,000. The annual costs of Metsähallitus arising from the prestudy and when the application is being prepared would amount to about EUR 70,000. In the other sites in Finland the appreciation and interest associated with the World Heritage sites has significantly boosted the economies of the regions concerned. “What the growth in tourism also means is shared responsibility for preserving the values of the World Heritage sites despite the larger numbers of visitors,” Minister Krista Mikkonen says.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — The Government’s objective is to direct more private funding towards sustainable investments in the future. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment has launched a project aimed at identifying both the opportunities and financing challenges of sustainable business for Finnish companies.

The project will be carried out with funding from the European Union via the Structural Reform Support Programme and will develop tools for companies to measure effectiveness and to make use of sustainable funding.“Climate change mitigation and sustainable development are the Government’s key objectives. In order to achieve these climate objectives, it is important that investments in the economic and social renewal are launched and that they find funding in the market. The aims and measures provide Finland with an opportunity to lead the way in solving global development challenges and simultaneously create profitable international business for our companies,” says Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä.

Pilot projects in sustainable development to create new solutions In practice, key stakeholders will work together during the project to identify concrete financing solutions and operating models that will help generate investments more efficiently in line with the sustainable development goals. The project will also prepare the public sector for utilising financing instruments that boost investments in sustainable development.“What I find is an excellent starting point in this project is the fact that measuring and reporting business sustainability is not seen as a duty that only certain operators subject to regulation must adhere to. I would like companies to consider sustainability as an opportunity to distinguish themselves in a positive way,” Minister Lintilä adds.

Solutions will be developed in pilot projects linked to a specific challenge in sustainable development. Private and public sector experts will select the pilot projects in cooperation. Examples of possible themes include technologies that promote carbon neutrality, a sustainable food system, clean water solutions and a circular economy. The tools and financing solutions that will be developed will become more widely available after the project.

Project is based on UN Sustainable Development GoalsFinland is committed to implementing the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development both in Finland and in international cooperation during this decade. The implementation is guided by the UN’s 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Gaia Consulting Oy will be responsible for carrying out the two-year project in association with AARC Ltd and Trinomics B.V., while the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment will be in charge of national coordination. The project will be implemented in cooperation with the Directorate General for Structural Reform Support of the European Commission.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health requests opinions on the draft government proposal for temporarily amending the Communicable Diseases Act to curb the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic in cross-border traffic. The aim of the proposal is to focus measures, based on a risk assessment, on travellers arriving in Finland at airports, ports and land borders.

Comments can be submitted between 10 and 23 November 2020. Following the consultation round, the Government intends to submit its proposal to Parliament on 3 December 2020.It is proposed that three new temporary sections be added to the Communicable Diseases Act — sections 60a, 60b and 60c and a new subsection to section 60. The first one would lay down provisions on imposing quarantine on people arriving in Finland from high-risk countries on the grounds that they have been exposed or are justifiably suspected of having been exposed to COVID-19. Section 60b in turn would apply to exceptional situations where quarantine is not imposed, and section 60c would apply to the provision of executive assistance to the authority in charge of communicable diseases in the relevant municipality. The proposed new subsection of section 60 would state that section 60a lays down provisions on the duration of COVID-19 quarantine.Person arriving in Finland could be placed in quarantine under certain conditionsThe physician in charge of communicable diseases in the municipality or the joint municipal authority for the hospital district could decide to place a person under quarantine for a maximum of ten days, if this was necessary to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 disease. This could happen under certain conditions when a person arrives in Finland from a country or other geographically restricted areawhere the incidence of COVID-19 cases, the number of cases relative to the population, during the last 14 days is at least double compared to Finland,where the rate of infected people in the general population can be estimated to be at least one per 1,000 people, and if the person poses a significant risk of spreading the disease upon their arrival in Finland.

Provisions on high-risk countries and regions would be laid down by government decree. The decree would remain in force up to one month at a time. People arriving in Finland would not be placed under quarantine if they could present a reliable certificate by a physician stating that they have recovered from a laboratory-confirmed case of COVID-19 or that they have been vaccinated against COVID-19.Furthermore, they could not be placed under quarantine if their stay in Finland lasted for a maximum of three days, they presented a reliable certificate of a negative COVID-19 test taken up to 48 hours prior to their journey or if they were willing to take a COVID-19 test immediately upon their arrival in the country and the test result was negative.Similarly, the quarantine would not be imposed if their stay in Finland lasted for 4–6 days and they could present a reliable certificate of a negative COVID-19 test taken up to 48 hours prior to their journey and they were willing to take a second COVID-19 test immediately upon their arrival in the country.

Quarantine would not apply to regular border crossings between border communities, for example Temporary section 60b of the Communicable Diseases Act would lay down provisions on exceptions where people could not be placed under quarantine. Quarantine would not be imposed on people travelling regularly between border communities for the purposes of work, whether as an employee, an entrepreneur or a self-employed person, or studies or for securing their income. The exceptions would thus apply to land border crossings between Finland and Sweden and between Finland and Norway and to travel by air or sea between Finland and Sweden and between Finland and Estonia.The quarantine requirement would not apply to diplomats; drivers operating in passenger and freight transport in the logistics and transport sector; on-duty crew members of vessels, aircraft and trains and their change crew; and persons travelling by air via Finland, provided that they do not leave the airport. Similarly, quarantine would not be imposed on people travelling for compelling personal reasons, for example people travelling to meet their underage children. In exceptional cases, travellers must be able to provide, on request, the authority in charge of preventing communicable diseases in the municipality or the joint municipal authority for the hospital district with the necessary information. Police, Customs, Border Guard and Defence Forces could provide executive assistance to municipal authorities Temporary section 60c of the Communicable Diseases Act would lay down provisions on the right of the Police, Customs, the Border Guard and the Defence Forces to provide, on request, executive assistance to the authority in charge of communicable diseases in the municipality or the joint municipal authority for the hospital district in connection with measures related to the COVID-19 crisis. The provision of executive assistance could not, however, endanger the performance of their other important statutory duties.

The authorities providing executive assistance would have the right to inspect the certificates presented by travellers which state that they got a negative result from a COVID-19 test, they have recovered from COVID-19 or they have been vaccinated against it. Such certificates would be required under section 60a of the Act. In addition, they would have the right to inspect the information required in exceptional cases under section 60b. The authorities providing executive assistance could also stop vehicles, direct traffic and prevent people from leaving until a decision on the quarantine has been made. The person performing the inspection would be bound by the obligation not to disclose any information obtained during the inspection.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — Digitalisation and increase in knowledge work are reflected in working life. According to the Working Life Barometer 2019, working in haste was normal for many wage and salary earners, with almost one-third of them working in haste on a daily basis.

More wage and salary earners than before considered their work mentally strenuous and close to a half of them experienced harmful stress at work. On the other hand, the majority of wage and salary earners experienced engagement – enthusiasm, drive and immersion – in their work. These are the conclusions of the Working Life Barometer published by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment on 10 November 2020.For the first time in 2019, the Working Life Barometer surveyed the symptoms of work exhaustion. The most commonly experienced symptom of work exhaustion was mental exhaustion, that is chronic fatigue, which was experienced always or often by 12% of wage and salary earners and sometimes by 37% of them. About 10% of those surveyed experienced a lack of enthusiasm and concentration difficulties always or often, while slightly less than a third reported having such experiences sometimes. Difficulties in managing emotions was the least commonly experienced symptom. The symptoms of work exhaustion were linked to the experience of haste, stress and mental strain of work. Women experienced symptoms of exhaustion more often than men and non-manual workers more often than manual workers did. The symptoms of work exhaustion were most common in the municipal sector. “In many ways, today’s working life requires much more from employees than before. From the perspective of extending careers, it is essential that people can handle working life. By developing skills and the way we work we can promote both wellbeing at work and longer careers,” says Minister of Employment Tuula Haatainen.

Despite the occasional strain of work, the majority of wage and salary earners had experienced a positive feeling of engagement in their work. In 2019, most wage and salary earners reported feeling enthusiasm (64%) and drive (63%) in their work. In addition, more than half (56%) had experienced immersion in the work. Gender, age or socio-economic status had surprisingly little impact on the experience of work engagement. Employees in the municipal sector felt work engagement most often.  “This feeling of engagement is a good example of how successfully developing working life has increased well-being at work and at the same time improved productivity. Employees who are engaged in their work feel better in general and are more productive. This, in turn, plays an important role in the success of organisations,” Minister of Employment Haatainen adds.

Segregation of working life reflected in working conditionsThe segregation of working life, that is the division of the labour market into male-dominated and female-dominated sectors, is also reflected in working conditions. According to the Working Life Barometer, women are systematically less able to influence their work than men are. Women have less flexibility in their working hours and they experience more harmful haste, mental strain and physical violence than men. Women were also more dissatisfied with the incentive offered by their pay than men. “Gender equality must be promoted in all circumstances, both during and after the coronavirus crisis. However, the inequalities in working conditions will not be resolved overnight. We need broad-based action. Among the most important measures is the family leave reform, which aims to divide the responsibility of child care in families more evenly,” Minister Haatainen says.  The coronavirus epidemic does not show in the results of the Working Life Barometer 2019.  However, the results of the barometer provide a comprehensive picture of how wage and salary earners experienced working life just before the start of the epidemic. “The coronavirus crisis will accelerate the structural changes in working life. There has been a shift to remote work and general uncertainty has increased. These changes should be carefully examined. The epidemic will be reflected in next year’s Working Life Barometer. The 2019 barometer will serve as an important basis for examining the results of next year,” adds Haatainen. What is the Working Life Barometer?Conducted since 1992, the Working Life Barometer is a sample study that examines the development of the quality of working life from the viewpoint of Finnish employees. The data for 2019 are based on telephone interviews conducted by Statistics Finland in August and September in connection with the Labour Force Survey. 1,555 wage and salary earners responded to the barometer study in 2019. The data can reliably be generalised to apply to employees everywhere in Finland and in all sectors.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — On 24 November 2020, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs will organise a public webinar on equality, technology and innovation. The themes will be promoted under Finnish leadership in the global Generation Equality campaign.How should technology and innovations be used to promote gender equality? How to ensure equal opportunities for everyone to participate in future information societies, and what challenges are expected? Why should we work for equal opportunities in technology and innovations – and how will our businesses and societies benefit from an equal technology sector?Answers to these and other questions concerning equality, technology and innovation will be sought on Tuesday 24 November at 14.00–16.00 in a public webinar, which will launch discussion on Finland’s contribution to the promotion of the Generation Equality campaign.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi

NordenBladet — On 9 November 2020, the Ministry of Transport and Communications appointed a working group to identify needs to amend the legislation on information security and data protection in sectors of key importance for the functioning of society and to submit a proposal to the Government for policy guidelines on them. The aim is to further increase the level of information security in Finnish society and to ensure that the citizens’ data is better protected than presently.

The study will focus on key sectors of society, such as health care, financial markets, energy supply, water supply and transport services. Further areas included in the study are Finland’s digital infrastructure as well as information systems essential for the functioning of public administration.The assessment should be as concrete as possible and focus, in particular, on the powers and supervision of the authorities. The working group is also expected to provide as accurate an assessment as possible of the operator-specific or information system-specific resources currently allocated to information security tasks as well as the expertise of the personnel on the matters. The task of the working group is to analyse the effects and calculate the costs of the proposed measures and the additional resources needed.One reason for setting up the working group is a recent data breach against a service providing psychotherapy services. It showed that there are critical information systems in Finland in which information security and data protection have not been adequately ensured.

The group will be chaired by Laura Vilkkonen, Director-General at the Ministry of Transport and Communications.In addition to representatives of the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the working group has members from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Finance. The group members also include the Cyber Security Director as well as representatives from the Cyber Security Centre of the Transport and Communications Agency, the Emergency Supply Centre, the National Police Board and the Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman are also presented in the group. The working group will also consult other authorities.

The term of the working group ends on 31 January 2021.It is to publish an interim report in December 2020.In order for the possible implementation of the group’s policy and action proposals to take place, the resource implications have to be taken into account in the government session on spending limits in spring 2021.

Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi