How coronavirus is affecting families in Finland? Do we get compensation if we or one of the family member had to be quarantined and out of work? How Finland reacts to prevent this virus from spreading?
How coronavirus is affecting families in Finland? Whenever I open the news, from an online newspaper, television or in hard copy newspaper, it’s everywhere. The most common headline is only about CORONAVIRUS.
When the news went out
At first when it come in the news about this coronavirus, the first thought came to my mind were my previous classmates family. I came here as a student in an international group, I had so much Chinese classmates then. They were in my thoughts and hope that their family are safe and fine even those that are not from Wuhan.
It breaks my heart to see the news that families are being separated when the family member is being quarantined due to the virus. I hoped this will not be here at all but I know at some point, there will be cases in Finland too. This is a very active country for travellers not only for tourist but for individuals who travel by business or pleasure.
Travelling
It was just few weeks before the winter holiday when they announced that a tourist from Wuhan became positive in Finnish Lapland. The first case in Finland. To be honest, our main destination for our winter holiday plan was Lapland. It has been very warm weather here for winter time and this is my very first time in almost 15 years here to have no snow at all during January and February.
Having kids, they wanted to have snow activities. We had a very nice winter holiday a year before when we visited Kemi, Rovaniemi, Kemijärvi and Salla among others. We wanted to do the same this year.
Unfortunately due to this news, even it was just one case, we decided to change our plan. As a mother, I want to keep my kids as safe as possible. We went to Kuopio instead, which we had a very nice time too. Later on, this city had a positive case too like any other big cities.
What are the symptoms of coronavirus and how to prevent?
Symptoms fever, sore throat, coughing, runny nose and for the severe cases shortness of breath.
The risky group are those who have other sickness such as diabetes, asthma among others.
Coronavirus can spread by droplet transmission from person to person. It can also be transmitted through surfaces where the virus can survive after transmitted by the infected person. That’s why it is very important to clean our hands properly. Proper hygiene can prevent the spread of it.
How coronavirus is affecting families in Finland?
Panic buying
Based on the THL or Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare as of today March 13 2020, there are about 155 cases in Finland. Most of the cases have been mild.
This
I have heard from the radio that due to the panic buying even outside the country. People really tend to buy so much of the hand sanitizer that it starts to be very difficult to find. So there are many DIY on how to make your own. I find this, not a good solution at all. Hand sanitizer is nothing compared to proper washing hands with soap.
Another safety precaution is to avoid being in public places where you know can be of lot of people around.
Do you know that everyday, there is more products coming. Based on S-Group, some product may be out for awhile but there is always new one coming. It seems that many different locations in Finland, people are mostly buying dry products such as rice, pasta, oatmeal among others and hygiene products such as toilet paper and soap.
Changes to public gathering
Due to this coronavirus in Finland, it was announced yesterday as much as possible, public gathering will be avoided. This affects our family too.
My husband supposed to have his concert this March and they need to cancel it due to safety precaution.
My daughters hobbies, their choir and
Working remotely
I work in an international company and we received
Many working places now are giving this recommendation if there is possibility to work from home.
As a mother who travels every day an hour drive going to work and another hour drive back home, this is advantage for me.
Day care changes
However, due to these changes in the schedule, I am thinking of not putting the younger kids to daycare too while I am at home.
We received an information from day care as well, that whenever there is someone sick in the family, kids are not allowed to be in day care at all. This is to protect everyone (kids and employees).
If we, as a normal employee are being kept away from the possibility of catching the virus I think it is of a good idea to keep children away from getting it or other possible viruses too as much as possible.
I however hope that day care and school will be closed temporarily for the safety of everyone.
If you get sick or need to be quarantined
It is always important to take a very good responsibility to go for a test if you are suspecting that you have the coronavirus. Not only that it help give you the proper information and medication but also help everyone around you to do their precaution. It can prevent the virus from spreading.
Do you know that the government pays for allowance or compensation if you got sick of coronavirus in Finland? It makes it easier to think that there will be a total economic break down if needed to be away from work.
Is it worth to panic?
In this situation, many people are panicking. I think we must make sure to keep ourself healthy and have a good immune system to avoid getting the virus. Keep as much as possible away from public places and proper hand hygiene.
My daughter even said while we are watching the news yesterday, can they stop talking about coronavirus? I get it, it’s all over the news and always highlight is the total number of cases that got positive. It might be that after tomorrow the number of infected people ar double than now, who knows.
Sometimes, it is better to hear, how many out of infected became better than the total of infected. Many people react too much and get panic easily.
They said, about 70% of the population will get the coronavirus. For now, we must follow what the government have recommended us to do, to avoid getting or spreading it. We must stay calm!