CORONAVIRUS

Government informative coronavirus site just for natives not for foreigners

The Finnish government has launched an service for coronavirus online testing. But this website is just intended for people who can read and understand Finnish or Swedish.

All over the world, people need to learn if they have coronavirus (koronavirus, in Finnish) or not. And the governments are trying to provide solutions for this worldwide.

Finnish health experts, the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), state-owned SoteDigi and Kustannus Oy Duodecim, have developed an online test where each citizen can test their own symptoms and assess whether there is a need for treatment.

If necessary, the test provides guidance to a professional. For less severe symptoms, the service provides self-care and other counseling.

Matti Rautalahti, Duodecim's Secretary General said, "The Omaolo test data is based on the best available and scientific information."

Omaolo should be a very good alternative for people who suspected whether they have coronavirus or not. Also, Omaolo provides up-to-date coronavirus information. THL and Duodecim evaluate the accuracy of the content daily.

Only in Finnish and Swedish

Also in the government press release about Omaolo said, "The COVID-19 symptom assessment is available to all residents of Finland in Finnish and Swedish. The electronic symptom assessment enables equal access to service regardless of the time of day and the person’s place of residence."

Finnish and Swedish are the two official languages of Finland. But they are also a limitation for hundreds of thousands of foreigners who do not speak the official languages.

One of the requirements for being a Finnish citizen is the knowledge of at least one of the Finnish or Swedish languages or Finnish sign language. Even the government said "Omaolo is for all residents", but clearly it has not been developed for foreigners.

If you want to visit Omaolo you can click here.