Update on the Corona Pandemic in the Republic of Finland June 11, 2020 As of today, the Finnish Public Health Authorities announced that 1 new death have been confirmed within the last 24 hours due to the Coronavirus. Since Covid-19 reached Finland the total mortality rate is now 325 people. 7 064 people have been confirmed infected and 4 people are in intensive care. The easing of the restrictions introduced 10 days ago has not resulted in more coronary cases - at least not yet. At the press conference on June 10, 2020 which was attended by Head of Department Päivi Sillanaukee from SHM (Finland's ministry of social and health) and leading expert Jussi Sane from the Institute for Health and Welfare. Sane noted that the situation in Finland is very similar to the situation in Norway, Denmark and Estonia. However, ”the situation in Sweden still raises concerns. There, the infection cases are increasing, but that may be due to more rigorous testing now,” he said. The number of reproductions, or the R-number, which tells how many people are infected by one infected person, is steadily in Finland at 0.7-0.8. Also, the fact that so few are currently being cared for in the intensive care unit in Finland (4 people) is a good indicator that the situation here is good, Sane said. According to a graph that was shown at the press conference, Nyland, central part of Österbotten and also Åland have been hit quite hard by the virus. But Sane stated “the contamination chains are under control, and the infection cures are well located”. He still felt that it was important that we continue to maintain physical distance and have good hand hygiene - this to avoid a second infection wave this fall. Finland abolishes the corona-related border controls for travel to and from the Nordic and Baltic countries. Sweden is however not included, announces Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo. The decision comes into force on Monday June 15, 2020, and includes Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Denmark, Norway and Iceland. “Because of the infection spread in Sweden, we choose to not allow them to participate in this decision at this time,” stated Ohisalo according to media in Helsinki. 1 However, according to Finnish Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo, it is permissible for Swedes who own property in country to be able to come to Finland, for example to their summer house. When asked how much better the infection situation must be in Sweden before they open their border to the country, Ohisalo replied: “It's a hard question. We will follow the situation and will return to the issue of Sweden in two weeks' time,” she tells Huvudstadsbaldet. Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto tells the newspaper that the Finnish Government understands the difficult situation in Sweden and that the governments of the two countries have continuous contact to find solutions to the common challenges of this pandemic. Created by: Crisis Committee Monitoring and Taking the Required Procedures Regarding Coronavirus in Accredited Countries by the Embassy of Libya - Sweden Stockholm: June 11, 2020 2 .