Coronavirus - current information and instructions

The City of Kaarina is actively following the development of the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation. We have taken anticipatory measures to ensure the safety of our population.

The information in this release will be updated as necessary. Otherwise, our units will continue operating as usual for the time being.

Click here to translate this page into your language.
Translation may not be 100% accurate of the original content.

The following changes in the social and health services are intended to protect the elderly and those with underlying diseases.

Health services

• The emergency clinic at Kaarina Main Health Station is open Mon-Fri from 8 am to 4 pm. The standard emergency services are separate from the infectious diseases emergency services.  Always call tel. 02 588 2600 before leaving for the emergency clinic. 
• In COVID-19 related matters, you can take the online symptom check-up at omaolo.fi or seek advice by calling tel. 02 588 2600 (appointments and counselling).
• Patients with symptoms of an infection are treated at Kaarina Main Health Station only. No patients with symptoms of an infection are admitted to Littoinen or Piikkiö Health Stations.
• Out of hours, please contact Tyks Acute, tel. 02 313 8800.

Health centre opening hours 

Kaarina Main Health Station Mon-Fri 8:00 am–4:00 pm

• X-ray: Mon-Thu 8:00 am–3:30 pm, Fri 8:00 am–3:00 pm
• Laboratory: Those in COVID-19 risk groups, Mon-Fri 7:15–8:00 am by appointment; other patients Mon-Fri 8:00–11:00 am by appointment. Urgent sample taking also without an appointment, by queue number.

Piikkiö Health Station Mon-Thu 8:00 am–4:00 pm, Fri 8:00 am–2:00 pm

No laboratory sample taking in Piikkiö.

Littoinen Health Station Mon-Thu 8:00 am–4:00 pm, Fri 8:00 am–2:00 pm

 No laboratory sample taking in Littoinen.

Visits to patients at hospital

Due to the COVID-19 situation, we recommend that visits take primarily place in an outdoor location.

Visits to patients in hospice care

1–2 visitors/patient at a time.

Prior to the first visit, contact the staff: 

• Ward 1, tel. 02 588 2300
• Ward 2, tel. 02 588 2310

Instructions for visitors during the coronavirus epidemic

• To visit a patient, you must be healthy and without symptoms
• Ensure proper hand hygiene 
• Keep a safety distance of 1–2 meters from other patients and staff members
• It is recommended that you use a surgical nose and mouth mask during the visit
• Don’t unnecessarily move around in common areas but go directly to the patient room or, if possible, an outdoor terrace.

Other health services

Child health clinics, school and student health care, speech and occupational therapy and psychologist services

All these units provide services as usual. Within the child health clinics and the school and student health care, missed checkups will not be given at a later date, with the exception of 4-year and 6-year checkups, when the child receives booster vaccines. If the guardian or the child/youth is particularly concerned of a specific matter, the nurse will assess the need for care and treatment, and book an appointment accordingly.

• In order to minimize the risk of contagion, we are continuing our efforts to reduce the volume of patients in our facilities. For this reason, patients should come to visits alone, if possible, and children should be accompanied by one guardian only. Both parents are welcome to the maternity clinic and visits with the newborn baby. Please do not come to the appointment if you are feeling unwell!
• Within school health services, all visits are by appointment only to avoid unnecessary queuing in the waiting room. For an appointment, please contact the nurse via Wilma or by phone.
• Open child health and maternity clinics are not in operation until further notice. Routine control checkups and immunizations are by appointment only. Group activities will not be resumed yet.
• If the coronavirus situation changes, the operation of the unit will be re-evaluated and any changes are announced on the website of the City of Kaarina.

Dental checkups are again being done as usual. It is safe to visit the dentist or oral hygienist. Emergency dental care is available at the Kaarina Main Health Station Mon-Fri 8:00 am–4:00 pm.  You need to book an appointment by calling tel. 02 588 2200. Emergency dental care is for first aid treatment only. Please let us know if you have flu symptoms or if you have been exposed to someone who is ill with COVID-19.

Services for the elderly

• The service point of Palvelutori Eerikki is again open for customers. Customer services are available on Mondays from 9 am to 2 pm and Tue-Thu from 9 am to 12 noon.  Telephone service is available during these opening hours. Palvelutori Eerikki has cancelled all its events until 31 December 2020.
• Memory counsellors’ telephone service is available on Tuesdays from 9 to 11 am, tel. 050 314 6155.
• Housing coordinators’ telephone service is available on Wednesdays from 9 to 11 am at tel. 050 314 5229 (Sanna Fränti) and tel. 050 373 2420 (Sari Kulta). 
• Online information is available on grocery, pharmacy and meal delivery services, but you can also contact Palvelutori Eerikki for information (tel. 050 512 9150). These services are provided by several companies. 
• The regional counselling telephone service for the elderly is available Mon-Fri 9 am–3 pm, tel. 02 262 6164.
• As regards nursing homes for the elderly, a new instruction concerning the visiting practices has been drawn up on the basis of the guidelines issued by Valvira and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL). For more information about the visiting practices, please contact the staff of the nursing home in question.
• The day activity units (Hovirinta, Tupasvilla and Värttinä) have resumed their activities.
• The gym at Visiitti is again open.  Due to the coronavirus situation, some major changes have been made to programmes, timetables and practices. Independent use (outside guided or group sessions) is possible only in the evenings on weekdays and all day during weekends. More information is available here (in Finnish).

Family and social services

• The activity centre Tikli is continuing its work and day activities normally as of 3 August.  In all activities, we comply with the THL guidelines regarding the prevention of infectious diseases.
• Customer meetings take place normally, but remote work tools can be used when necessary.
• To ensure the safety of all parties involved, we contact every customer in advance before meeting them at the office or their home.
• Group meetings will be resumed gradually.
• The counselling telephone services for the family and social services are operating as normal.

More information

• Medical director, Antti Sandén tel. 050 430 2135
• Director of elderly services, Seija Sjöblom, tel. 050 373 2526
• Director of family and social services, Emilia Heikkilä, tel. 050 373 2563
• Director of social and health services, Mikko Pakarinen, tel. 050 512 9270

Schools

The autumn term at schools starts on 12 August. We will continue monitoring the COVID-19 situation and comply with the guidelines issued by the authorities. Further details and practical information will be provided via Wilma.

Early childhood education

The guardians of children in early childhood education and preschool education will be informed of the details via Wilma and email.

All early childhood education facilities are open, and the preschool education provided by them is in operation.

Play parks and the sports club Heiluri will start during August.

Information

The schools will keep guardians informed via Wilma. Within early childhood education, information will be provided through the usual channels (Wilma, email and phone).

More information

• Principal of the particular educational unit (in matters related to your child’s school)
• Manager of the particular early childhood education unit; family day care managers (in matters related to your child’s day care)
• Head principal (acting), Emmi Virtanen, tel. 050 471 0874
• Director of early childhood education, Päivi Kemppainen, tel. 050 373 2524
• Director of education, Elina Heikkilä, tel. 050 373 2568

Libraries and Kaarina-talo

To ensure the safety of our patrons and staff, part of the facilities and services are still not available. The libraries will be re-opened in compliance with the Government's guidelines and the instructions issued by the Regional State Administrative Agency (AVI).

More information about the services and opening hours of the libraries is available here (in Finnish). Information related to Kaarina-talo will be updated on Kaarina-talo’s own pages (in Finnish).

For further information, please contact Ritva Nurminoro, Director of cultural and library services, tel. 050 373 2742

Citizen Service Points

Citizen service point Fiskari in Kaarina-talo is open Mon from 9 am to 7 pm, and Tue-Fri 9 am to 4 pm.

Citizen service point at Piikkiö Library is open Mon from 12 noon to 7 pm, and Tue-Fri from 10 am to 4 pm.

Events and activities

The City of Kaarina will arrange and contribute to events and activities on a case by case basis and in compliance with the currently valid recommendations.

All cultural events of the City of Kaarina will be arranged with due consideration for safe distances in terms of seating and programme. Please do not take part in any event if you have even the slightest flu symptoms.

Adult Education Centre

The courses of the Adult Education Centre have started. All relevant instructions issued by the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) and the Regional State Administrative Office (AVI) will be observed.

We have made and will continue to make any arrangements necessary to prevent the spreading of the virus for our part. Particular attention is paid to the cleaning and hand hygiene in our educational facilities, and we have also limited the number of participants in courses. If necessary, teaching methods will be adjusted. These measures will help us to provide safe facilities and practices to meet the needs of different courses.

We hope all our course participants observe proper hand hygiene and only attend classes when healthy.

For further information, please contact Risto Jaakola, Principal, tel. 050 373 2516.

Swimming pool and indoor sports facilities

The community swimming pool and indoor sports facilities are open, with certain restrictions and special arrangements.

All four saunas of the community swimming pool are open but the number of users is limited to 5 persons at a time per sauna.

Other areas and functions

The traffic playground offers no services because of the COVID-19 restrictions. However, children can ride their own bikes in the area, observing the playground rules and regulations.

More information

• Sports Services manager, Tapio Svärd, tel. 050 373 2434
• Landscape manager, Ossi Vesalainen, tel. 050 373 2414

Administrative meetings

The City Board has recommended that virtual meetings continue until August. The administrative bodies of the City may, however, opt to continue having virtual meetings as deemed necessary by the chair of the relevant body. At its meeting on 17 August, the City Board will discuss whether or not to continue recommending virtual meetings until further notice. 

More information

• Director of administration, Päivi Antola, tel. 050 5415 160
• Mayor Harri Virta, tel. 050 3732 400

Registrar office and City offices

Any documents addressed to the registrar office of the City of Kaarina should be delivered to the citizen service centres during their opening hours. It is also possible to send documents to the registrar office by mail (addressed to PL 12, 20781 Kaarina) or email (kirjaamo@kaarina.fi). 

Further information 

Director of administration, Päivi Antola, tel. 050 5415 160
 

Building control and environmental protection

Changes due to the coronavirus situation 

The Building Control office is open from 9 am to 3 pm; the customers are only allowed to enter the hall. They can discuss with the customer service staff and surveyors across the protection zone. As the staff are working remotely and in office environments, some customer services may function in a restricted manner.

The processing of building permits is congested, and the processing times are significantly longer than normally.

Surveys are carried out with certain limitations, and the surveyor must be allowed to keep a safe distance from other attendees.

Possibilities to view documents requested from the archives are limited.

The Environmental Protection Office is closed for customers. Customer service is available by phone or email from 9 am to 3 pm.

• The community centre Pontela and its gym are open. For further information, please contact Päivi Antola, Director of administration, tel. 050 5415 160
• Bus timetables and other information on Föli are found at the Föli website. 

• Current information on coronavirus (THL)
• Frequently asked questions about coronavirus (THL)
• National telephone service for general advice on the coronavirus by phone: tel. 0295 535 535
  • The telephone service is open on weekdays from 8 am to 9 pm and Saturdays from 9 am to 3 pm.
  • This telephone service does not provide health counselling or guidance concerning acute symptoms that require emergency care.

Hand washing and coughing hygiene (THL) 

If you suspect you have COVID-19, contact Kaarina City Health Centre by calling the appointment booking number, tel. 02 588 2600, Mon - Fri from 8 to 4.

When the health centre is closed please contact the joint emergency services of the Turku region, tel. 02 313 8800.

Coronavirus tests are conducted on workdays from 8 to 12 at the drive-in testing station.

Further information:

omaolo.fi

Coronabot

Finnish institut for health and welfare

infoFinland

TYKS - Turku University Hospital