While its Swedish neighbor had captured the media's attention, Finland seems to have fought a victorious fight against the coronavirus. This country has indeed maintained infection levels five times lower than the European Union average.
When talking about the Covid-19 pandemic, Finland is obviously not the first country that comes to mind. And yet, it is now showing a very positive trend with 16,637 cases for "only" 359 deaths, according to a publication by the World Health Organization (WHO). Finland recorded 45.7 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the past two weeks. However, this is the lowest rate in the entire European Union.
Best of all, Finland is the only EU country to show lower numbers than the previous fortnight. For Finnish chief epidemiologist Mika Salminen interviewed by AFP, it is clear that the peak of the epidemic has passed. Local health authorities attribute these results to the government's rapid action. The latter has indeed established a semi-containment quickly , as of March, and prohibits travel to and from the capital Helsinki.
After lifting these measures, Finland implemented a testing system and a case tracking application. Launched on August 31, 2020, the Koronavilkku app has already been downloaded 2.5 million times , equivalent to just under half of the country’s total population. Moreover, the success of this application is combined with an absence of privacy issues, as has been the case elsewhere on the continent.
According to the European Parliament, the Finns have largely complied with the rules . A quarter of the population even felt that confinement had improved their lives. Without a doubt, Finland is quite simply the most positive country in Europe in the face of restrictions linked to the current health crisis. If the high level of education is put forward with regard to the good respect of the rules, the character of the Finns, reserved and solitary, is also perceived as an asset.
Until now, Finland was overshadowed by one of its neighbours:Sweden. In March 2020, this country offered an unusual response to the epidemic by advocating self-responsibility. Authorities hoped to slow the spread of the virus without taking drastic measures. Unfortunately with a current toll of more than 137,000 cases for almost 6,000 deaths , this strategy is a failure.
