Coronavirus Hus demands corona passport to be shelved “at least over New Year’s Eve”

Helsinki and the Uusimaa Hospital District (Hus) vs. Chief Medical Officer Jari Petäjä requires a corona passport for a moment to be shelved.

The matter emerges from a recent press release from Hus.

The petitioner justifies the claim with the probable increase in the number of coronavirus patients and the increased risk of illness for Hus staff due to the new omicron transformation.

“According to current information, two [korona­virus­rokote]the dose protects against severe disease, but it is not enough to prevent micronocardial infections, ”Husin said in a statement.

This poses an obvious risk to the carrying capacity of medical care, the release says.

News about it formerly Iltalehti.

Coron passport shelving would mean that, for example, restaurant and event restrictions could no longer be overridden by requiring customers to have an interest rate passport.

If the corona passport were shelved, for example in southern Finland, restaurants would have to stop serving at 5 pm and public events for more than 20 people would not be held indoors. Restrictions are already in place, but for the time being, operators can circumvent them by requiring a corona passport. A light signal at 5 p.m. would force many restaurants to close temporarily altogether, and strict restrictions on public events would prevent most events from being held.

Read more: Restaurants and events may soon close even for those vaccinated – Kiuru and THL statements anticipate political storm

Staff the increased risk of illness affects all operations and all units, Husin said in a statement. Hus’s Christmas activities were planned during the delta virus transformation and on the assumption that there would be no significant changes in the morbidity of nursing staff.

“The starting point for planning during Christmas has been to secure emergency care, but the planned human resources are not enough to make up for the staff’s extensive absences,” Petäjä says in the press release.

According to Hus, the hospital workload is expected to start this week.

According to Hus, the threat is nationwide.

“All people should now voluntarily reduce their contacts. In addition, it is necessary to pause the corona passport at least at the turn of the year, ”says Petäjä in the press release.

On Monday the Temporary shelving of the corona passport was also demanded by the Get Rid of Corona Group. The group sent to decision makers open letter, according to which increasing rates of infection with omicron are rapidly eroding the potential benefit of a milder illness. Among the signatories is, among others, a postdoctoral researcher in disease ecology at the University of Helsinki Tuomas Aivelo.

According to the signatories, the carrying capacity of healthcare needs to be safeguarded, and current protection measures such as testing, tracing, masks and teleworking are not enough. In addition to these measures, the signatories are proposing a temporary break for the corona passport, the closure of restaurants and other public spaces, restrictions on gatherings, and the distance or early and extended Christmas holidays at schools.

Read more: Norway’s fierce corona modeling is comparable to the situation in Finland, says researcher Tuomas Aivelo: There may be a difficult wave ahead

Also Director General of the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) Markku Tervahauta stated on Saturdaythat the corona passport may have to be temporarily disabled in the coming weeks.

THL plays an important role if the corona passport is to be phased out. According to the Communicable Diseases Act, a corona passport can be taken out of service regionally or in the whole country for a maximum of one month at a time by a Government decree. According to the law, THL must immediately notify the Council of State if the epidemic threatens to become so severe that such action must be taken.

However, the tar grave said on Saturday that such a statement from THL is not yet being prepared, but the situation may change quickly.

The government will discuss the corona situation on Tuesday. Minister of Family and Basic Services Krista Kiuru (sd) said on Friday that the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health had proposed that the government decide next week on the timetable for the introduction of the so-called “emergency brake”. The emergency brake would introduce much tougher corona control measures. The key action may be to suspend the use of the corona passport.