Instructions for Persons Who Have Covid-19
This page has been updated on May 2nd 2022
If you have a covid-19 infection that has been verified in a laboratory, Soite informs you about this via text message. Follow the instructions that you are given.
If you get a positive result in a home test and have no underlying diseases, have mild respiratory symptoms and your general condition is good and you do not need a medical certificate A for your employer, you do not usually need to contact the health care services or to seek out coronavirus testing in the health care services.
Your occupational health unit or your health centre may write a certificate for a five day sick leave based on a home test and your contact. If you need a medical certificate A for your employer for sickness allowance on account of an infectious disease, a positive result in a home test must be verified in the health care services. If you need a medical certificate A, contact your occupational health or your health centre. The Infection Control Unit no longer writes these certificates.
A positive result in a home test may be verified in the health care services if the person who is ill
- has severe symptoms
- belongs to a risk group
- is pregnant
- works in social or health care services
- needs a certificate for his/her employee or for a COVID-19 passport
A positive result in a coronavirus test
A person who has been tested positive for a coronavirus infection in Soite is sent a text message with instructions. Read the instructions carefully. The goal is to contact persons over the age of 60 by phone.
The isolation period for a person who is ill at home is five days from the day of testing or the day the symptoms have begun regardless of the vaccination protection. The day of the test or the day the symptoms have begun is day 0. Additional coronavirus tests are not necessary. During home isolation, one must avoid all contact with persons outside the home.
The isolation may be ended independently when at least five days has passed since the symptoms began, the fever is gone and other symptoms are clearly easing. If severe symptoms persist, the person who is ill must contact his/her own health care centre or occupational health unit in order to get sick leave. A dry cough or a change in your sense of smell/taste is not a reason for you to continue isolation.
COVID-19 Home Tests
A positive test result in a home test has to be treated the same as a positive result from an official test. The isolation period for a person who is ill is at least 5 days from the day of testing or from the day the symptoms have begun.
If a home test is negative and you have symptoms, it is a good idea to repeat the test several days in a row or with two-day intervals.
Even if you get a negative result in a home test, it does not mean that the incubation period is not ongoing and that the disease may not be detected later. It is important that you avoid contact with other people for at least five days if you have symptoms.
When you become ill:
- Avoid close contact with others
- Stay at home for at least 5 days counting from the day a coronavirus test has been taken or from the day the symptoms have begun
- If you continue to have symptoms on the fifth day, call your your occupational health unit or health care centre for sick leave.
- If you work in health care or care for the elderly, you should follow the instructions you receive from your employer.
- If you live in an apartment house, do not use the common areas while you are ill.
- When you are ill, it is important to rest and drink a sufficient amount of fluids (2.5 litres/day). Alcohol should be avoided. You can relieve fever and pain with over-the-counter medications.
- Maintain good hand and coughing hygiene.
- Monitor your condition. If your health deteriorates, if necessary call:
- The coronavirus helpline: phone 06 828 7499, open every day from 8 am to 4 pm
- Outside phone hours, please contact us as follows:
- Adults, over 16-year-old persons who are ill: Soite’s common emergency clinic (yhteispäivystys/samjouren), phone 116 117
- Under 16-year-old persons who are ill: Soite’s paediatric emergency clinic, phone 06 826 4444. Open around the clock 24/7.
- During the call, you should mention that you have the coronavirus disease, and that you therefore are in isolation.
- In order to avoid spreading the disease, you should not use a taxi if you are referred to care in one of Soite's units (use your own car or call an ambulance).
Link: An assessment for a person who has COVID-19 and is at risk of an occlusion in a blood vessel
When Can One Return to Work after the Disease?
You may return to work after the isolation has ended, i.e. when 5 days have passed since coronavirus testing and you no longer have a fever, and your other symptoms are significantly milder.
If you have been in hospital, you must be in isolation at home until at least 10 days have elapsed from the onset of the symptoms.
Isolation does not need to continue longer than this if the only symptoms are a change in the sense of smell or taste or a mild dry cough.
Persons Who Live in the Same Household
If you live in the same household with a person who has COVID-19 (home test/verified in a laboratory)
- Persons who live in the same household are no longer ordered into quarantine in accordance with the Communicable Diseases Act.
- Healthy and unvaccinated family members should avoid contact with other people outside the home, as far as this is possible, until five days has passed since the person who is ill was tested. If several family members become ill, the five days are counted from the beginning of the symptoms of the person who has become ill most recently.
- One may move freely when the isolation period is over and the symptoms have been gone for two days.
- Hobbies and visits during the spare time are not recommended.
- Use an FFP respiratory mask or a surgical face mask.
- Work from home if possible. If needed, discuss this with your boss.
Persons Who Have Been Exposed to the Coronavirus
Persons who have been exposed to the coronavirus are no longer ordered into quarantine in accordance with the Communicable Diseases Act. A person who has been exposed to the virus but has no symptoms keeps an eye on his/her health status.
Symptoms that fit the coronavirus are: cough, head cold, sore throat, fever, muscle aches, headache and fatigue. If you have mild symptoms, you can do a home test if you do not belong to a risk group. A positive test result may be verified in the health care services in above-mentioned cases. You can book an appointment for a coronavirus test either electronically via the Omaolo service omaolo.fi or by phone via the coronavirus helpline, phone 06 828 7499, Monday — Sunday 8 am – 4 pm.
Informing Close Contacts Who Have Been Exposed to the Coronavirus
Tell the persons you have been in close contact with about you becoming ill (a close contact is a contact of at least 30 minutes indoors). Ask those who have been exposed to the virus to avoid contact with other people for five days since the last time you met, to use an FFP respiratory mask or a surgical face mask and to see to good hand hygiene when they meet other people. A person infected with the coronavirus can infect other people 48 hours before s/he gets symptoms. Persons who are symptom-free do not need to go to a coronavirus test or to contact the health care services.
Sickness Allowance on Account of an Infectious Disease Compensates for the Loss of Income During COVID-19
Kela can pay sickness allowance on account of an infectious disease if an employee has been ordered to be absent from work in order to prevent the spread of an infectious disease, for example the coronavirus. A guardian of a child under 16 years of age has the right to sickness allowance on account of an infectious disease if the child has covid-19 and the guardian is unable to work from home.
The sickness allowance on account of an infectious disease does not include a waiting period: it is a full compensation for the loss of income suffered because of absence from work. The amount of the allowance is based on the salary the employee would have been paid had the employee been at work. An entrepreneur’s allowance is based on the YEL or MYEL yearly income at the time when the absence from work began (YEL = Self-Employed Persons’ Pensions Act; MYEL = Farmers’ Pensions Act).
In order to pay sickness allowance on account of an infectious disease, Kela needs the decision by the physician in charge of communicable diseases in the municipality or hospital district. Contact your occupational health or your health centre if you need a medical certificate A for your employer.
Exposure Situations at Care Facilities and Nursing Homes
In case of a coronavirus exposure, the head of the unit must contact an infectious diseases nurse immediately in order to prevent an epidemic at the medical care institution.
When Caring for a Person Who is Ill:
- When a person in the home has a respiratory infection, others living in the same household can reduce the risk of infection by avoiding close contact with him/her and maintaining good hand hygiene.
- Washing your hands is important, especially when you have been in contact with the patient, been in the same room with them or handled their tissues or laundry.
- Monitor the patient's condition and, if necessary, contact health care professionals by phone.
- If possible, only one adult should tend to the person who is ill. A person who belongs to a risk group should not be the primary caregiver for the patient.
- If possible, other persons living in the same household should stay in another room. If this is not possible, others should maintain a safety distance of more than 2 meters to the patient. For example, the patient may sleep in a separate bed.
- If you belong to a risk group but cannot avoid close contact with the patient, consider using a protective mask that covers your mouth and nose.
When Caring for a Sick Child:
- If possible, only one adult should tend to the person who is ill. A person who belongs to a risk group should not be the primary caregiver for the patient.
- Make sure the child gets enough fluids. If they do not want to eat due to a sore throat, for example, they can get energy from a sugary drinks. The child has had enough of fluids if urine is secreted and the child pees a few times per day.
- When holding a sick child in your arms, make sure that the child does not cough in your face.
- The child must stay at home for at least 5 days. If the child still has symptoms on day 5 or after that, the child should stay at home until they have been symptom-free for at least two days.
- Monitor the child’s condition and if necessary, call the health care centre.
Symptoms in Children that Require Immediate Treatment:
The instructions below apply always regardless of the pathogen or underlying disease. If your child becomes ill and develops any of the following symptoms, seek medical attention as soon as possible:
- difficulty breathing
- the skin is bluish or grey
- the child does not drink enough fluids
- the child vomits heavily or continuously
- the child does not wake up or react to anything
- the child is so irritable that they do not want to be in your arms
- the symptoms disappear but then return with a fever and a worse cough.
Cleaning, Laundry and Cleanliness:
- Throw used tissues and other disposable products in the trash. Be sure to wash your hands if you touch used tissues, etc.
- Wipe contact surfaces such as door handles, remote controls and table surfaces daily with a standard cleaning agent.
- Clean the toilet spaces daily and try to avoid splashing. Cleaning can be enhanced with a household disinfectant.
- Wash the dishes and cutlery used by the patient after use.
- Wash bedclothes as usual in 60-90 degree water. Use detergent. Avoid unnecessary handling of the laundry. After handling dirty laundry, wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water or clean them with an alcoholic hand sanitizer.
More information on the website of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare.