50 renowned Finnish researchers and experts have sent an open letter to the Government, proposing to develop a strategy to suppress the coronavirus, instead of the so-called 'hybrid-strategy' now launched. According to them, the Covid-19 could be suppress in as little as 5 weeks.
The letter has been signed by a team of experts in various fields. Doctors and researchers in the fields of medicine, biomedicine, economics and mathematics, among others, are backing this proposal.
According to the signatories, it would be possible to suppress coronavirus, even if the study group led by Martti Hetemäki, Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Finance, ends up with the opposite perspective in its report.
In the open letter, the researchers claim that coronavirus epidemic can still be controlled and effectively suppressed in five weeks.
“We, the signatories, want to encourage the government to take decisive action to suppress the epidemic. Suppressing the virus is by far the best option for both public health and the economy, and the government should adopt it without delay,” said in the letter.
Testing capacity secured
According to the letter, in Finland, a moderately good infection situation has been achieved in two months. This advantage must not be lost.
The researchers said that, once the number of infections has been reduced and the testing capacity and infection surveillance are secured, individual cases and chains of infection can be easily traced and eradicated.
The letter stressed that suppression is not only a precautionary principle but also the only ethically sustainable option.
In the light of medical ethics and human rights, deaths must be prevented, not just slowed down, these experts argue.
With the suppression, researchers believe economic activity would rise and life would return close to normal.
