PM orders taskforce to release coronavirus-related info

Prime Minister Sanna Marin on Saturday asked the coronavirus coordination taskforce to disclose all documents except confidential ones after an allegation of concealing information had been raised against the taskforce.

“I have discussed with the Secretary of State today and instructed to release all non-confidential information used by them (taskforce),” the prime minister wrote in a Twitter post in Finnish on Saturday afternoon.

Marin pointed out that the government on 6 May said that all background information and data used in decision-making must be published in line with the principles of openness in science and research.

The prime minister’s remarks followed a report released by the news agency STT on Saturday morning accusing the taskforce of its failure to hand over documents related to coronavirus to the STT requested last month.

Meanwhile, Chancellor of Justice Tuomas Pöysti and his deputy Mikko Puumalainen are looking into how the Openness Act has been followed in preparations and decision-making related to the coronavirus epidemic, reported the national broadcaster Yle.

They asked clarification from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).