International COVID-19 Megathread

[Helsinkian]

The official number of cases in Finland is a little over 200 currently, but the statistics will soon lose credibility, as testing will be prioritized to health-care workers and people in risk groups. Young people outside of risk groups who feel sick but don't develop serious symptoms will be told to stay home, but they will never be tested and thus will never know for certain if they had the virus.

At least for the moment the government has not ordered the closing of schools, so they might be following a similar strategy as the UK, but they are not outright saying so.

My local supermarket was fully stocked in everything except toilet paper which had been hoarded -- despite the fact that Finland is a major producer of toilet paper and is extremely unlikely to run out.

[Helsinkian]

Finland goes into state-of-emergency. While the official number of Covid-19 cases is 272, the National Institute of Health has conceded that the real number is likely to be 20 to 30 times that number.

[Helsinkian]

In Finland the parliament is asking that the parties send only a quarter of their MPs to the plenary at one time (50 out of 200 present at one time, all in all), and that those MPs are not seated next to each other. All parties obviously have to co-operate so that that doesn't affect the government majority.

[Helsinkian]

In Finland, the government will isolate Uusimaa, the most populous region (which includes Helsinki), from the rest of the country. Most of the confirmed Corona cases have been in Uusimaa.

[Helsinkian]

It does seem like Westminster was probably one of the early epicentres of the disease, to be honest, so it's not a great surprise.

Maybe they should review the whole "650 MPs packed into a room meant for half that amount" design of the House of Commons.

[Helsinkian]

What we’ll look like (after the lockdown, before the next hairdresser appointment):

I shaved my head into a buzzcut a few days ago because of this.

[Helsinkian]

In the latest episode of "China hoodwinking Europe", the millions of respirators Finland ordered from China at a cost many times that compared to normal times have proven to be inadequate for hospital use.

The rest of the world should really demand that China pay compensation for this pandemic.

[Helsinkian]

In the latest episode of "China hoodwinking Europe", the millions of respirators Finland ordered from China at a cost many times that compared to normal times have proven to be inadequate for hospital use.

The rest of the world should really demand that China pay compensation for this pandemic.

Why did finland order millions of respirators?

Millions are used every month in hospitals, so there's nothing odd about that. Perhaps you're confusing respirators with ventilators? N95 masks are respirators, for example.

[Helsinkian]

In the latest episode of "China hoodwinking Europe", the millions of respirators Finland ordered from China at a cost many times that compared to normal times have proven to be inadequate for hospital use.

Absurd details have begun to surface regarding this episode. Finland's National Emergency Supply Agency, which is supposed to ensure that there is a sufficient national stockpile of important stuff in the event of crisis, did not directly order the masks, but instead contracted two Finnish individuals to get them from China.

The problem is that those two individuals are shady. One is a former payday-lender with unpaid debts; the other is a Finnish woman running a "beauty business" in Estonia who has been convicted of financial crimes.

The agency agreed to pay five million euros to both in exchange for them supplying the surgical masks and respirators. The payday-lender received the payment (for the shipment that recently arrived containing supplies unsuited for hospital use). The woman with the "beauty business" did not receive her payment: her Estonian bank froze her account because the bank flagged the transaction as possible moneylaundering.

Now the woman is claiming that the payday-lender improperly got the deal she was supposed to get. The payday-lender had a stone thrown through his window and is claiming that the woman contracted the Finnish chapter of Hells Angels to collect the five million from him (the Hells Angels denied this in a tweet).

Now the director of the National Emergency Supply Agency has been forced to resign for failing to properly vet the people used to acquire the supplies.

[Helsinkian]

Sweden had their first death on 11 March. Now they have 1,033 deaths.

In Finland we had our first death on 20 March. Now there are 64 deaths.

[Helsinkian]

Sweden had their first death on 11 March. Now they have 1,033 deaths.

In Finland we had our first death on 20 March. Now there are 64 deaths.

What's the average age of infected people? Obviously this is a huge deal. Germany has a low death toll by comparisan because the median age of patients is about 48. It's much higher in Italy.

Finland does not release data on the patients' age. Not sure about Sweden.

[Helsinkian]

World's leading tennis player is an anti-vaxxer: "Personally I am opposed to vaccination and I wouldn't want to be forced by someone to take a vaccine in order to be able to travel".

https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1252194068035182594

[Helsinkian]

Typical Finnish bureaucracy: while several European countries have mandated the use of masks in public, the Finnish government has decided to order an investigation into whether masks are beneficial. It will take two months, and no advice will be given to the public on masks before its completion.

Almost no one is wearing masks here currently. I've worn them in public transport, but it's kinda hard to be the only one wearing a mask.

[Helsinkian]

Sweden takes the lead in daily deaths per capita. Nevertheless, Tegnell's ego will probably never allow him to admit to mistakes.

https://twitter.com/mikaellindstro2/status/1260966982935097348

[Helsinkian]

Typical Finnish bureaucracy: while several European countries have mandated the use of masks in public, the Finnish government has decided to order an investigation into whether masks are beneficial. It will take two months, and no advice will be given to the public on masks before its completion.

Almost no one is wearing masks here currently. I've worn them in public transport, but it's kinda hard to be the only one wearing a mask.

The government-ordered investigation has been completed. Its findings: no use whatsoever to wear a mask unless it's at least of the N95/FPP2 standard.

The report disregards the recent medical studies which find that surgical and cloth masks are useful in bringing down the R number. And it's also in contradiction with the government's own guidelines which call for social care workers to wear a mask of any sort while visiting elderly people in their homes.

I guess when you pay for a report, you get the report that you want to get.

[Helsinkian]

Finland is opening its borders to Nordic and Baltic countries -- with the exception of Sweden, due to the high case numbers there.

[Helsinkian]

Finland ends the state of emergency.

[Helsinkian]

Norway actually ordered their tracking app to be deleted along with all the data due to privacy concerns.

[Helsinkian]

Finnish government finally recommends wearing masks in public places where social distancing is not possible. This follows months of insisting that masks are of no use.

[Helsinkian]

Ahead of the annual Finland-Sweden track-and-field match, the Swedish team's doctor, Sverker Nilsson, has made some strange comments about the Coronavirus -- he insisted that no quarantine was needed after one Swedish runner contracted it:

"He infects others only if you kiss him. You can share a room with him and eat with him without problems. It is spread only through saliva."

Regardless of Nilsson's beliefs, the runner won't participate in the match. This just goes to show how far Sweden has drifted from the rest of the world when it comes to treating this pandemic.