The Helsinki tabloid Iltalehti reports a technical issue affecting the widely-used “Koronavilkku” coronavirus contact tracing alert app.
The paper says that it has now been found that the app does not alert all users to long-term exposure. The paper reports that not all of the family members living together and, for example, groups of friends sharing a holiday cottage, have been alerted to possible exposure to the virus.
This means that some exposed individuals have not received instructions to remain in quarantine and, in the worst case, the affected person has had time to unknowingly expose others.
The glitch is caused by default settings in the Bluetooth technology standard used by the app to monitor and communicate with other phones.
Sami Köykkä, one of the app developers at the Solita company, told the paper that the source of of the problem has been identified and is being remedied.
“We can work around the problem in such a way that we are able to calculate the relevant times for long exposure and provide warnings based on that data,” Köykkä explained.
A update to the app is expected soon.
Yle News' podcast All Points North reported Thursday that the English version of the Koronavilkku app is finally available. With more than 40 percent of the population already using the app, Aleksi Yrttiaho from THL explained what made Finns so keen to download it.
You can listen to the full podcast via the embedded player here or via Yle Areena, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or your usual podcast player using the RSS feed.
Paper review continues after audio.
More entry restrictions
The Swedish-language daily Hufvudstadsbladet reports that the list of countries whose citizens are allowed to enter Finland is being further shortened with only eight nations left.
As of Monday, 12 October, entry restrictions will again be introduced in traffic between Finland and Cyprus, Latvia and Liechtenstein.
The reason for the reintroduced travel restrictions is that the countries in question exceed Finland's entry limit, which is 25 new coronavirus cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the last two weeks.
The new restrictions mean that after Monday, one can travel freely into Finland only from the Vatican City, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Rwanda, South Korea, Thailand and Uruguay.
In addition, entry to Finland for work or other pressing reasons is allowed for citizens of Andorra, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Great Britain, Ireland, Croatia, Monaco, Romania and San Marino. Travelers arriving from these countries are, however, recommended to voluntarily quarantine for 10 days, but can shorten the quarantine period by taking two voluntary coronavirus tests.
These restrictions are set to remain in force until 10 November.
The paper notes that Finnish citizens have a constitutional right to return home to Finland.
Upswing in shoplifting
According to the financial and business publication Talouselämä, there has been an increase in thefts and shoplifting in Finland this year, which can in part be attributed to a lack of prosecutions on petty crime.
Lauri Kulonen, a retail trade expert at the Confederation of Finnish Trade Unions, told the paper that while the upswing stared before the coronavirus epidemic, the number of shop thefts has shot up in recent months. In part, he said, this may be due to increased shopping activity in grocery stores, but he added that shoplifters often go unpunished.
“Preliminary investigations are being dropped more and more often, and decisions not to prosecute have also increased. This sends the wrong signal to the perpetrators. At present, the resources of the police and the prosecutor's office are simply not sufficient [to deal with the problem],” said Kulonen.
According to the Confederation of Finnish Trade Unions, thefts cost retailers 550 million euros a year.
At present, shoplifters who are prosecuted receive a fine. Starting from the beginning of next year, six offenses within a year will bring fines, but a seventh conviction may lead to jail time.
Drugs also a rural problem
The farmers' union daily Maaseudun Tulevaisuus writes that while illicit drug use has largely been an urban problem in Finland, it is also on the rise in the countryside.
Drug trafficking, it writes, has spread to rural areas over the last five years or so with the proliferation of the online drug trade.
According to Chief Inspector Jari Räty of Finland's National Bureau of Investigation, all illegal drugs except cannabis that are used in Finland come from abroad, with the largest single source today being the Netherlands.
Räty pointed to a recent case involving drugs purchased on the dark web in which more than half of the suspects had their address in rural areas and only a few suspects had a previous criminal background.
"When it's so easy to access and the selection is wide, every Tom, Dick and Harry can order any drug in any corner of Finland from their own home sofa," Räty pointed out.
There is virtually no difference in the type of drugs used in different regions. According to Rädy, this is largely explained by the fact that the availability of drugs is equally easy in both urban and rural areas thanks to the internet.
