Starting from Monday, 4 October, the service centres will open almost all their services that have been closed, such as gym activities, restaurant services and open group activities.
“It is great that we are now in a situation where we can open our activities almost as before. The service centres are very important meeting places for the elderly and many have been waiting for their opening for a long time,” says Helena Venetvaara, Service District Director.
“However, starting activities after such a long lockdown can cause minor deviations in some services, such as delays in the opening of services and congestion. We ask for our clients’ patience and understanding. The aim is to get everything up and running as soon as possible,” says Venetvaara.
Larger events and gatherings will not be organised at the service centres as of yet.
There may be exceptions to the opening hours of the restaurants at the service centres. The number of customer places has been restricted in the restaurants.
More information on the services can be obtained from the information desk of your service centre. The contact information for the service centres can be found on the city’s website (in Finnish).
Clients are encouraged to follow the protection guidelines
We still wish that all clients will continue to follow the current protection guidelines. The wish is that clients will wear a face mask and remember to wash their hands and cough into their sleeve. This is to ensure that service centre visits are safe for all people.
“If a client has any symptoms at all suggestive of the coronavirus, the visit to the service centre must be skipped. It is important that people do not visit the service centres when they are ill,” says Venetvaara.
Adequate safety distances will continue to be observed in the service centres’ premises. The premises and surfaces will be cleaned more actively.
Activity centres for kin care will also open
The activity centres for kin care will open on Monday, 4 October. The activity centres’ social instructors will contact clients separately in terms of group activities.
The activity centres for kin care provide services for carers and their families by organising, for example, recreational activities, peer support groups, excursions and service counselling. More information on the activities can be obtained by calling the social instructors of the activity centres. Detailed contact information can be found on the city’s website (in Finnish).
Photo: Oona Kunnasniemi