Lately, there has been public discussion about the way in which exposures at schools and daycare centres are communicated. Helsinki has further specified its practices to be able to inform guardians and staff as quickly as possible of exposures.
The director of the kindergarten or the principal will notify the guardians or students affected by a possible exposure as soon as possible in a first notification. The first bulletin will explain which classes or daycare groups have been possibly exposed, if there are more than 10 people in the group.
Once all those who have been exposed have been determined, a targeted notification or text message link to an online form will be sent to those who have been exposed or their guardians. The guardians or students can send the information required for tracing via the online form. The form also provides them with quarantine instructions. A quarantine decision will be sent at a later time by data-secure e-mail or by post.
Once the exposed persons have been found and the text messages have been sent, the director of the daycare centre or principal will send a follow-up notification to the guardians or students, indicating that all those who have been exposed have been contacted separately.
In March 2021, Helsinki deployed first notifications to be able to inform guardians about possible exposures at daycare centres, schools and educational institutions as quickly as possible. The first notification will replace the so-called general notification used earlier, which was sent out only after tracing had been completed.
