The tabloid Ilta-Sanomat is among the papers reporting that a government meeting that lasted late into the night ended without an announcement of whether or not the current restrictions on travel in and out of the Uusimaa region will lifted on 19 April as originally planned.
Rather than release a timetable for ending closure of the region following the gathering, the government let it be known that a decision will be announced on Wednesday morning.
This paper said that government sources had told it earlier on Tuesday that the government will not propose an extension of the travel ban. This, it writes, is because the government is unable to show that the measure is unavoidable - a constitutional requirement for the government to impose restrictions on freedom of movement.
Ilta-Sanomat says that in any case, this is not an easy decision. The Uusimaa region has the highest rate of novel coronavirus infections, and the most efficient way to hinder the spread of the epidemic into other parts of the country would be to continuing restricting travel across the Uusimaa border.
Controls working
Helsingin Sanomat presents expert opinion that the measures taken so far have kept the epidemic under control for the time being.
This is evident, it says, when comparing models projecting hospital capacity requirements made at the start of the epidemic with the actual situation today.
A state of emergency was declared in Finland on Monday 16 March. Most restrictions, including school closures and ski resort shutdowns, came into force that same week. The border of the Uusimaa region was closed in late March.
"Restrictions have had an effect. That is clearly evident from the data," Aalto University Statistics Professor Pauliina Ilmonen told the paper.
In March, a research team headed by Ilmonen modeled projections of the trend in the number of coronavirus patients needing hospital care.
In early April, the number of patients has been closer to the lowest projections than the highest and the situation has continued to improve.
However, Ilmonen warns that the danger is not yet over. If restrictions are lifted too early, or people start ignoring them the curve may shoot upwards and in the worst case overwhelm the healthcare system.
Presidential warning
Finland's leading Swedish-language daily, Hufvudstadsbladet, reports that President Sauli Niinistö on Tuesday warned of new prejudices arising in society in connection with the coronavirus.
In his commentary published on the official website of the president's office, Niinistö writes that the coronavirus not only led to everyone being forced to change their daily habits, but at the same time, the virus has lead to suspicion and frustration aimed at various groups.
"Why is that person coming so close, or why are those people gathering in larger groups than allowed? It is a very short step from those thoughts to generalisations, grouping together in one's mind people of a certain age, or people living in a certain place, and so on," wrote President Niinistö.
Niinistö continued that it was a short step from recognizing that 70 year-olds are a risk group that need special protection to thinking that they pose a risk to others. Luckily, he said, this phase has passed.
Now, attention has turned to residents of Uusimaa. While declining to take any position on the issue of lifting Uusimaa travel restrictions, President Niinistö reminded his readers that residents of the region are the same people who lived there before the epidemic. "Fear," he wrote, "is a unifying factor, not a divisive one."
"Prejudice targeting groups of people is insidious. First suspicions are aroused, then avoidance and shunning. It is during difficult times that we can least afford prejudice. I will repeat this just to be sure: Luckily we are capable of avoiding this," stressed President Niinistö.
Meanwhile, the Turku-based daily Turun Sanomat reports that on Tuesday President Niinistö had a telephone conversation with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
Quoting from a press release, Turun Sanomat reports that the phone call focused on the coronavirus epidemic, means to alleviate its economic impact, and the need for initiative and international cooperation.
President Niinistö thanked Xi for all of the medical information and other cooperation China has provided Finland.
Lost seal pup
In what may be a sign of these quiet times even in urban areas, the newspaper Helsingin Uutiset reports that strollers in Helsinki's Kaivopuisto Park Tuesday afternoon came across a grey seal pup curled up quietly sleeping right beside what is usually a busy café terrace.
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One of them, Kaisa Erola, told the paper that she, along with a few other kind souls helped the pup down a nearby boat ramp and back into the Baltic Sea.
According to Helsingin Uutiset, grey seals have put in appearances in the capital several times this spring with a recent video of one splashing about in Vuosaari, in the east of the city, becoming a social media hit a couple of weeks ago.
