Finland to re-impose restrictions, if pandemic hits back

Finland prepares to slam the brakes again, if the coronavirus pandemic hits back after restrictions was eased, reported news agency Xinhua quoting national broadcaster Yle on Sunday.

The government has allowed commuting between Finland and Estonia, and the reopening of school classrooms -- both of which will start on Thursday, Yle reported.

Liisa-Maria Voipio-Pulkki, the Strategy Director at the Ministry of Social Service and Health, said to Yle that even though the government emergency powers for closing schools nationally will expire this week, regional authorities can act using the legislation on infectious diseases.

A task force, chaired by Voipio-Pulkki, will monitor the infection rates and hospital capacities so that a possible backtrack policy could be arranged, Yle reported.

Last week, Prime Minister Sanna Marin noted the R-number of infections -- the rate at which the virus is transmitted -- was at around 0.8. She stopped short of defining a threshold of R-number increase that would kick in restrictions.

As of Sunday, Finland has reported 5,962 confirmed cases, with 267 deaths. At the peak of the outbreak in early April, 244 people were hospitalized, while the number on Sunday was 162.