Another Finnish pandemic glossary
Here are some more words/phrases I’ve learned during this pandemic (first glossary here).
on altistunut - has been exposed. You do not want to see this in your school message inbox next to your kid’s name (I’ve seen it twice).
maski - mask. Sometimes Finnish is easy! Masks are now mandatory on public transportation and are strongly recommended just about everywhere else, including at schools in grades 4 and up. Compliance is very high.
karanteeni - quarantine. By the above logic, this should be easy but it’s just different enough that I always end up butchering it.
hengitysoireita - respiratory symptoms. There are signs in health centers directing people with hengitysoireita to different waiting rooms, or signs on other businesses saying people with any hengitysoireita should not enter.
riskiryhmä - risk group, like people with diabetes or lung conditions or other diseases that would compound coronavirus effects.
siirtyy etäopetukseen - another phrase you don’t want to see in your school message inbox: moving to distance learning. The middle schools and high schools in Turku are currently on distance learning until the end of the month.
tartunta - infection/case. You see this in reports about the number of cases a certain area is experiencing.
koronavirustesti - coronavirus test (or koronanäytteenotto)
koronaväli or turvaväli - safe/social distance. The kids at school say koronaväli (they use it almost like kids used to say “eww, cooties!!”); official signs say turvaväli.
koronavirustilanne on vakava - the coronavirus situation is serious. We’ve been seeing a lot of this lately in Finland because the number of infections has really increased.
rajoitus - restriction. Bars and restaurants are closed except for takeout right now, for example.
rokotus - vaccine! Turku has administered one shot to 15% of its population so far. The pace has been slow because of the delays in delivery that the whole EU has been experiencing.
