People must stay home to avoid coronavirus disaster

Like elsewhere in the world, the number of cases of coronavirus infections in Finland is rising alarmingly day by day.

So far one person has died of the fatal disease and 700 others have been infected with the virus till March 23. Expert, however, feared that the number of total infected people with coronavirus seemed to be much higher in Finland than the official figure counted by the authority. The rate of new infections has been too high in the last few days and if it continues, the situation could get much worse or even totally go out of control.

The government on March 16 declared a state of emergency in the country following the coronavirus outbreak and decided to keep all educational institutions closed till April 13.

All government events now remain suspended while national and municipal museums, theatres, the National Opera, cultural venues, libraries, mobile libraries, services for customers and researchers at the National Archives, hobby and leisure centres, swimming pools and other sports facilities, youth centres, clubs, organisations’ meeting rooms, daycare services for the elderly, rehabilitative work facilities, and workshops also remain closed.

The authorities concerned have recommended that there should be no gathering of more than 10 people and urged them to stay home, except for emergencies. The elderly are urged to follow the instructions more seriously, as they are the most vulnerable to the novel coronavirus. But it has been seen that many people are not paying heed to the government instructions and moving outside frequently.

It is very unfortunate that many people, particularly the elderly, are not willing to stay indoors as instructed by the government. A survey conducted by the Finnish language tabloid Ilta-Sanomat found a majority of Finns are opposed to the instruction of staying home. According to the survey results, up to 76 per cent of the respondents are opposed to the stay-at-home order, while only 11 per cent think the government should issue such an order. Elderly people, those of the 65 to 79 year age group are the ones most opposed to the idea of staying indoors with 82 per cent of them saying they do not want to see any stay-at-home order.

We think such a suicidal attitude should not be indulged in, as we know how bad the global situation is, for example, in Italy, Spain, Iran, France, and Germany, among other countries. The government should take stricter measures to implement its orders and make sure that people stay home in order to arrest any further spread of coronavirus infection in the country. Otherwise, the entire nation might suffer very hard in the very near future.