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Wednesday's papers: Marin's beer, wastewater drugs and corona-era exercise

The Prime Minister said she had a beer during a Tampere city council meeting on Monday evening. 

Olutta kahdessa olutlasissa.
Which politician would you like to get to know better? Image: Petri Aaltonen / Yle
  • Yle News

Which one would you like to go for a beer with? It's a simple and somewhat hackneyed polling question, but still it pops up year after year regardless.

In Finland it now reads 'who would you like to get to know personally', according to Iltalehti, and it made an appearance during a party leaders debate this week.

The results of the poll showed that Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP) came top with 27 percent of respondents choosing her, with Li Andersson (Left) second with 18 percent and Jussi Halla-aho (Finns) third with 17 percent.

Marin commented that she was disappointed the form of the question had departed from the beer-based query it normally takes, but added that she had enjoyed a cold one on Monday night when she took part in Tampere City Council's meeting.

It's relatively common in Finland for even senior politicians to also hold positions on local councils, and as meetings are now held remotely, councillors are able to consume whatever refreshments they like during proceedings.

Helsinki tops amphetamine poll

THL regularly tests samples of waste water for drugs in various cities, to try and get an indication of their prevalence in different places.

Several outlets carry the latest results, with Helsingin Sanomat dividing by substance and municipality in a handy interactive table.

Helsinki tops the list for cocaine, MDMA, amphetamines and methamphetamines, and is followed by Lahti for all the substances bar cocaine.

The capital's wealthy suburban satellite municipality of Espoo takes second spot in that chart.

Previous research had shown a spike in March, before a decline was seen over the summer months.

HS reports that could be down to restrictions on overseas travel and limits on activity within Finland, which could both make acquisition of substances more difficult.

Exercising in the pandemic

Ilta-Sanomat has a story about the impact of coronavirus restrictions on the shape of the population. Specifically the body shape of much of the population.

Working from home reduces commutes to zero and many forms of group exercise have been restricted since coronavirus entered our lives.

Last week the government recommended that adult hobbies taking place indoors be suspended in areas that are in a spreading or acceleration phase of the epidemic.

Effects of working from home vary substantially, but IS suggests that people who walked or cycled to work and played team sports may have been worst-affected.

On the other hand those who like to run have managed to keep to their normal exercise routine throughout the year.

The paper carried comments from Tommi Vasankari, who heads up the UKK Institute that promotes 'health-enhancing physical activity'.

Vasankari suggests that there's a difference between the infection risk in different sports, and warns against blanket rules being brought in across the country or across disciplines.