City of Vantaa monitors coronavirus measures on service and customer premises
The City of Vantaa Environmental Health began monitoring and inspections compliant with the Communicable Diseases Act in week 10. The requirements related to preventing coronavirus from spreading largely apply to both private and public service premises and actors.
The Regional State Administrative Agency is responsible for monitoring restaurants compliant with the Communicable Diseases Act. Restaurants in Vantaa will be closed until March 28, 2021. Only pick-up sale is allowed. The police monitors adherence to the shutdown.
Inspections are made on premises that are open to customers. Examples of these consist of, among others, groceries, shopping malls, physical exercise premises for at max. ten persons, and other customer and meeting premises that remain open. Many of Vantaa's indoor customer premises for over 10 people and outdoor customer premises for over 50 people will remain closed until March 28, compliant with the Regional State Administrative Agency’s decision (see also press release published on March 11, in Finnish).
Environmental health inspections will check hygiene arrangements and social-distancing instructions in connection with ordinary inspections, based on an epidemiologic assessment or at the request of the Regional State Administrative Agency.
The inspections verify that customer premises have
- the possibility of cleaning hands either by washing or by using hand sanitizer
- sufficient hygiene instructions
- potential customer seats placed sufficiently far from one another, and staying on the premises also otherwise accounts for social distancing
- enhanced cleaning of premises and surfaces.
The inspections further ensure that the maintainers of the premises or those responsible for their use follow the regional state administrative agencies’ regulations as regards social distancing and restrictions to the use of premises.
According to the Regional State Administrative Agency's decisions, in addition to the above issues, customers must be secured safety distances (2 meters) if they stay on the premises for more than 15 minutes, and physical contact is not allowed. Read more detailed information on the actors affected by the decision in the Regional State Administrative Agency’s press release, in Finnish). The actors must make a plan for ensuring social distancing, and the plan must be kept on view for the customers. The actors can utilize a template plan available on the Regional State Administrative Agency's website. The plan will not be sent to the Regional State Administrative Agency.
The regional state administrative agencies have collected questions and answers related to the requirements stipulated by the Communicable Diseases Act online at: https://avi.fi/usein-kysyttya-koronaviruksesta. The Regional State Administrative Agency also maintains a coronavirus information service where companies can ask about interpretations of the Communicable Diseases Act regarding businesses online at: koronainfo@avi.fi, and tel. 0295 016 666, Mon-Fri at 8:00–11:30 and 12:30–16:00.
Customer feedback on the requirements of the Communicable Diseases Act regarding Vantaa targets can be emailed to: ymparistoterveys@vantaa.fi.