Government to work remotely as precautionary measure due to possible coronavirus exposure

Minister of Social Affairs and Health Aino-Kaisa Pekonen and Minister of Employment Tuula Haatainen may have been exposed to the coronavirus on Tuesday 5 May and will therefore begin self-isolating.

The ministers were in the same space as a person suspected of having contracted the coronavirus. The person was tested today and the result of the test will be available within two days. 

Yesterday, on Wednesday 6 May, the Government held a meeting at the House of the Estates, where Ministers Pekonen and Haatainen were also present. The negotiations were held in different rooms linked via remote connection, but there were individual contacts between the ministers outside the meeting. For this reason, the Prime Minister has decided that, as a precaution, all ministers will switch to remote work until at least the end of this week. The Government will continue its work normally using remote connections.

Parliament has been informed of the situation.

Inquiries:
Ahti Kurvinen, Director of Government Security, tel. +358 295 160100

Päivi Anttikoski, Director of Government Communications, tel. +358 40 5364821