Public gatherings should be capped at 20 people in the Uusimaa region, according to Eeva Ruotsalainen, deputy chief physician of Helsinki University hospital district (HUS).
In the past three weeks some 4,000 people have been exposed to coronavirus in the capital region, prompting concern among Ruotsalainen's colleagues.
"This means every affected person is called up and placed under quarantine," Ruotsalainen told Yle’s A-studio talk show on Tuesday evening.
In the past two weeks, the capital region has seen 56 instances of mass exposure, up from one to five per week during the summer.
Ruotsalainen said the figures indicate that people have returned to pre-pandemic behaviour patterns.
"All of these exposures have occurred in people’s everyday lives: at daycare, school, work, hobbies--and particularly at private gatherings," she explained.
That said, Ruotsalainen is urging people to avoid any gatherings with more than ten or twenty attendees.
"People are planning get-togethers big and small this autumn. I’m calling on every resident to keep in mind that the pandemic isn’t over when we look at the rest of the world and Europe," she said.
The district's deputy chief physician also reiterated the importance of wearing a face mask as she said face coverings can help prevent the spread of the seasonal flu in addition to coronavirus.
Meanwhile Mikko Floréen who heads the health care division of Uusimaa’s Regional State Administrative Agency told A-studio it may be time for residents to take the situation more seriously.
He explained that people’s private gatherings were beyond the scope of the regulatory authority but said it was up to each and every individual to exercise necessary caution.
