Finland to Ban All Public Events With More Than 500 People

(Bloomberg) -- Finland’s government decided to ban all public events of more than 500 people until the end of May to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

• Prime Minister Sanna Marin has convened a parliamentary meeting for 6pm in Helsinki to discuss implementing measures such as closing schools, daycare centers, universities, large malls as well as halting ferry and air traffic and banning smaller events
  • PM says emergency laws must be activated to take such measures, must be decided by the parliament
• Marin says Finns must inform the Foreign Ministry of any plans to travel, and travel should only take place when unavoidable
• Finnish government recommends people work from home as much as possible and limit non-necessary activities, such as hobbies
• Finance Ministry is prepared to submit a supplementary budget for 2020 to enable any required spending
• Finland to grant EU5 million to international organization developing a vaccine
• Finland to post all citizens an information package as well as enable a smartphone information app
• NOTE: Finland has 109 confirmed cases of the coronavirus
• Earlier: Virus Shutters Nordic Schools With Number of Cases Topping 1,800

To contact the reporter on this story: Leo Laikola in Helsinki at llaikola@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tasneem Hanfi Brögger at tbrogger@bloomberg.net, Kati Pohjanpalo

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