INTRODUCTION

COVID-19 is a disease caused by a virus called Coronavirus. The COVID-19 pandemic began in
China in 2019. The symptoms of COVID-19 are coughing, fever and fatigue (World Health
Organization, 2020). People are advice to get COVID-19 test if have any symptoms. People can
avoid getting infected by COVID-19 if they take some precautions steps. The example of
precautions steps are washing hands, using sanitizers, wear mask and maintain social distancing.
People must take the COVID-19 test and quarantine themselves if they have close contact with
COVID-19 infected people. According to World Health Organization (2020), 220 countries are
affected by COVID-19 pandemic. There are total 55064128 COVID-19 cases worldwide as of
18th November 2020.
Finland is one of country that affected by COVID-19 Pandemic. The first COVID-19 case in
Finland was identified on 29th January 2020. That first case was discovered on a Chinese tourist
(Tiirinki, H et al., 2020). According to World Health Organization (2020), there are total 19, 419
confirmed cases in Finland as of 18th November 2019. The Government of Finland declared the
state of emergency on 16th March 2020 due to the increasing number of cases (Tiirinki, H et al.,
2020). The Government of Finland implemented some rules in order to avoid the Coronavirus
from spreading (Tiirinki, H et al., 2020). The examples of rules are all the people must wear
mask, all the educational institutions must be closed, recreations, sports, swimming pools, and
clubs were shut down, all the people in certain sectors were required to work from home,
restaurants should be closed and only take away were allowed and mass gathering are not
allowed. Finland also used technology to trace and track COVID-19 cases. The first technology
was “Omaolo” website. If people think that they have infected by COVID-19, they can do the
symptom assessment in Omaolo website (Tiirinki, H et al., 2020). The next technology is an
application called “Koronavilkku”. This application will notify people if they have contacted
with a person who affected by COVID-19 (Tiirinki, H et al., 2020). People are also can update
about their information in the application so it will be easy to track.
According to the survey on labour force below (figure 1.1), the number of employed person in
June 2020 is lower than June 2019 by 87,000 people. The number of unemployed people in June
2020 is higher than June 2019 by 47,000 people (Finland Statistics, 2020).

S
ource: Finland statistics Source: Finland statistics

1.1) Changes in employment (2019-2020) 1.2) Unemployment rate (2010-2020)

During the COVID-19 Pandemic, restriction were implied on many businesses. Many businesses
faced difficulties due this (USDA, 2020). As a result, the unemployment rate increased in
Finland. The unemployment rate in June 2020 is 7.9% while the unemployment rate in June
2019 is 6.2% (Finland Statistics, 2020). The graph above (figure 1.2) indicates that the
unemployment in 2020 is higher than 2018 and 2019.
The next country that affected by COVID-19 Pandemic is Portugal. Portugal discovered the first
two COVID-19 cases on 2nd March 2020 (GardaWorld, 2020). The cases were discovered on
two person who returned from Italy and Spain (Tass, 2020). According to World Health
Organization (2020), the total number of COVID-19 cases in Portugal is 225 672 as of 18 th
November 2020. The first state of emergency in Portugal was started on 19th March 2020. The
second state of emergency was started on 9th November 2020 after hit by the second wave of
COVID-19 pandemic (Xinhua, 2020). During the first state of emergency, many rules were
implemented such as travelling was prohibited, all the airports were shut down, mass gatherings
were not allowed, schools, restaurants were closed (The Portugal News, 2020). During the
second state of emergency, the schools and restaurants can be open with restricted time (Medical
express, 2020). Many businesses sector including tourism sectors faced difficulties during the
COVID-19 Pandemic (Faget. J., 2020). As a result, the unemployment rate in Portugal
increased rapidly in the third quarter of 2020. Based on the graph below (figure 1.3), the third
quarter in 2020 recorded the highest unemployment rate since the second quarter of 2018. The
unemployment rate in the second quarter of 2020 is 5.6% (Tradingeconomics, 2020).

1.3 ) The unemployement rate from January 2018 to July 2020 in Portugal

1.4) The unemployement rate by age, sex, education level in Portugal

Based on the table above (figure 1.4), the unemployment rate in 3rd quarter of 2019 is 6.1% while
the unemployment rate in 3rd quarter of 2020 is 7.8%. The percentage of unemployed female in
2020 is higher than the percentage of unemployed female in 2019. The unemployment rate of
people with basic education (first cycle) in 2019 and 2020 are same (Portugal Statistics, 2020).
References

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