In Finnish Lapland, one of the very first corona cases in Finland was discovered. Since then, Sweden and Finland have taken different paths in the fight against the worldwide corona pandemic.

At an early stage, Finland closed schools, workplaces and quarantined the metropolitan area. On the Swedish side, a more cautious approach has been adopted.

But in Sweden, the health care staff also struggles with the great lack of supplies. The neighboring country in the east, on the other hand, has been in the dry. Since World War II, Finland has protected secret emergency stocks.

- We have a very long tradition of emergency stocks, says Mika Salminen, director of the Institute for Safety and Health to SVT Agenda.

Recently, a historic decision was made to open the stocks for the first time ever. In international comparison, Finland's preparedness is considered to be at a good level.

- We maintain and develop them on an ongoing basis, adds Mika Salminen.

pandemic Plan

The country also has a pandemic plan, the most recent of which was determined after the Swine Flu 2012.

- There we have identified the need for protective equipment and material. We can largely cover the need with what we have in the stores, says Tuija Kumpulainen, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health in Finland to SVT.

"Will not end"

The warehouses are in a secret location and it is not allowed to get there, but the authorities' own pictures show huge well-filled halls.

"It is about millions of surgical protection and hundreds of thousands of respiratory protection that we can use in the field," says Aino-Kaisa Pekonen, Minister of Social Affairs and Health, in SVT Agenda.

"It won't end," says Aino-Kaisa Pekonen.

Will not help Sweden

But on the question of whether Finland's capacity for storage of protective equipment is so large that they could help other countries, it becomes a blank no.

- Unfortunately, we cannot do this according to Finnish legislation. The emergency stocks can only be used by Finnish citizens and community functions, says Mika Salminen.

See more in Agenda 21.15 on SVT2.