Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

FINLAND: How Bright Are the Northern Lights—Finnish Welfare State and Local Responses to COVID-19

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Cities Under COVID-19: A Systems Perspective

Part of the book series: Urban Health and Wellbeing ((UHWSA))

Abstract

The first case of the coronavirus was diagnosed in Finland in a Chinese tourist in a holiday resort in Lapland on 29 January 2020. Within two weeks COVID-19 was included in the list of generally hazardous communicable diseases in the Government Decree on Communicable Diseases. The number of cases in Finland stayed at one until cases started to increase at the end of February and early March, as travel from the Alps during the winter holidays occurred. On 16 March, the Finnish government, jointly with the president of Finland, declared a state of emergency.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Castells M, Himanen P (2002) The information society and the welfare state: The Finnish model. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ebikeme C, Gatzweiler F, Oni T et al (2019) Xiamen call for action: building the brain of the city—universal principles of urban health. J Urban Health 96:507–509. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-018-00342-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Esping-Andersen G (1999) Social foundations of postindustrial economies. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Holmström B (2020) A post-pandemic path to success: what can Denmark and Finland learn from each other? Webinar with the Finnish Nobel laureate and Paul A. Samuelson Professor of Economics, emeritus, MIT Bengt Holmström and the professor of economics at Århus University Torben M. Andersen, today on October 26, 2020 at 16.00–17.00 Hanasaari

    Google Scholar 

  • Kangas O, Blomgren J (2014) Socio-economic differences in health, income inequality, unequal access to care and spending on health: a country-level comparison of Finland and 16 other European countries. Res Finn Soc 7:51–63

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kautto M (2001) Diversity among welfare states: comparative studies on welfare state adjustment in Nordic countries, Research reports 118. National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health, Helsinki

    Google Scholar 

  • Keskimaki I, Tynkkynen LK, Reissell E, Koivusalo M, Syrja V, Vuorenkoski L, Rechel B, Karanikolos M (2019) Finland: Health system review. Health Syst Transit 21(2):1–166

    Google Scholar 

  • Vaattovaara M, Kortteinen M (2003) Beyond polarisation versus professionalisation? A case study of the development of the Helsinki region, Finland. Urb Stud 40(11):2127–2145

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Mari Vaattovaara

  2. Helsinki Institute of Urban and Regional Studies, Helsinki, Finland

    Mari Vaattovaara

  3. Association of Finnish Municipalities, Helsinki, Finland

    Henrik Lönnqvist

Authors
  1. Mari Vaattovaara
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Henrik Lönnqvist
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mari Vaattovaara .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health, University of Otago, Wellington, New Zealand

    Philippa Howden-Chapman

  2. Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, China

    Franz Wilhelm Gatzweiler

  3. Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK

    Rachel Cooper

  4. Department of Geography and Environment, Western University, London, ON, Canada

    Isaac Luginaah

Photos

Photos

5 photographs. The first photograph is titled Brazil showing tall buildings. The second is of an underground train. The other three have crowded places.
A photograph of Cameroon. The photograph is filled with countless people in a market.
A combination of 4 photographs. 1. A woman is standing against a poster. 2. A message over a T V screen. 3. A big hall. 4. A hall full of small cubicles.
3 photographs. 1. 2 women in medical clothes spraying water. 2. 2 women. 1 walking and the other crouching. 3. An entrance barricade with one person sitting on a chair.
2 photographs. 1. 2 women are walking through a street painted with a Cuban flag. 2. Some people are having a conversation among themselves.
Three photographs. 1. A list of photographs of all doctors. 2. 3 female doctors talking among themselves. 3. A few doctors stand while a patient rests on the bed.
4 photographs. 1. A COVID camp. 2. A cargo plan with cargo. 3. A S B I shop with a few people sitting outside. 4. A handwashing corner.
2 photographs titled Finland. 1. An empty train station. 2. A train station with few people standing.
2 photographs titled Gaza Strip. 1. A lonely man stands in the middle of a street. 2. A few people in medical clothes are standing with guns.
4 photographs titled Nepal. 1. An aerial view of an empty city. 2. An empty street with only one vehicle. 3. A van with a person. 3. A group of people holding a piece of paper while wearing a mask
6 photographs. 1. A man checks on a person who is in the car. 2. An empty street. 3. A car with toys. 4. A trash can. 5. 2 people dressed as death. 6. A sign that says go home.
4 photographs titled Sri Lanka. 1. An empty garden. 2. A building with two vehicles in front of it. 3. A transport junction with few vehicles. 4. People gathered in protest.
5 photographs titled United States of America. 1. An empty lane. 2. A street with few people. 3. A sign to keep distance. 4. A road with children running. 5. A building.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 Zhejiang University Press

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Vaattovaara, M., Lönnqvist, H. (2023). FINLAND: How Bright Are the Northern Lights—Finnish Welfare State and Local Responses to COVID-19. In: Howden-Chapman, P., Wilhelm Gatzweiler, F., Cooper, R., Luginaah, I. (eds) Cities Under COVID-19: A Systems Perspective. Urban Health and Wellbeing. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-8163-0_8

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation