The article was updated on 13th April 2022 (starting from 19th April 2022 tenants can visit TYS Housing Office without a reservation )
TYS continues to take the coronavirus and its spread seriously. We want to protect our customers, employees and partners, and have therefore made changes in our services. We are monitoring the situation and act in accordance with the instructions of the Finnish government and other authorities. Below you will find guidelines and more information about the changes:
Customer service
From Tuesday 19th November 2022 tenants can visit TYS Housing Office in housing-related matters within the office’s opening hours without a reservation.
However, we still recommend that tenants book a time to visit the housing office through our electronic appointment system. This will allow us to prepare for your visit in advance and you will avoid queuing at the office.
Make an appointment to visit the Office
It is also still recommended to send an e-mail in advance about key pick-ups, so that the key can be put in our key pick-up locker, from which you can retrieve your key at a time that suits you best without having to visit the office.
You can also take care of matters related to housing via our electronic services on the tenant pages, by e-mail office@tys.fi, or by calling the office during opening hours on 02 275 0200.
The health of our customers, partners and staff is the utmost importance to us. We want you to be able to do visit in the office with a safe mind. We monitor the development of the coronavirus situation and, if necessary, adjust operations in accordance with official regulations and recommendations. Let’s take care of the safety of all of us together!
Instructions for protection against coronavirus infection:
- Do not come to the housing office if you have even mild symptoms suggestive of a coronavirus infection.
- Keep a safe distance from others in the housing office.
- Remember to take care of good hand hygiene and cough or sneeze into your sleeve or paper towel.
- The housing office offers face masks and hand sanitizer that tenants visiting the office can use if they wish to.
- There is a possibility to wash your hands in the housing office.
Clubrooms
The club rooms of TYS’s housing locations will be opened for tenants use on 17th February 2022. The exceptions to this are Student Village East´s club room, which will be opened on 21st February 2022 due to the reorganization of the club room, and Tyyssija´s club room, which will be opened after the club room is finished. The opening date of Tyyssija´s clubroom will be announced separately to the tenants of the location.
The person booking the clubroom is responsible for the booking and must ensure that gathering restrictions in force at the time, special care and guidelines on hygiene, safety distances and other arrangements to prevent coronavirus infections are followed in the clubroom.
It is also good for the booker to remember that the booker is responsible for cleaning the club room at the end of their booking. The club rooms are not cleaned by TYS between bookings but are cleaned once a week.
Saunas
Common sauna shifts will be open to tenants from 8th March 2022. Starting from 8th March 2022, tenants can also invite persons outside their own household to join them in their own sauna shift.
Tenants should note that the sauna, washing and changing rooms are not cleaned between sauna shifts but are cleaned once a day and only on weekdays. When using the saunas, tenants must follow gathering restrictions in force at the time, special care and guidelines on hygiene, safety distances and other arrangements to prevent coronavirus infections.
Already booked personal sauna shifts, which have been reserved at the same time with the common sauna shifts, have been canceled and sauna credits returned to tenants.
You can see the common sauna shifts of your housing location in TYSBooking. Shifts are divided into men’s and women’s shifts.
Laundries and shared kitchens – use a face mask, keep a safety distance of at least 2 meters to others and take care of good hand hygiene
We strongly recommend that tenants use face masks in laundries and shared kitchens. In addition, a safety distance of at least 2 meters must be maintained in the premises from other users of the premises. Tenant should also practice good hygiene, leave the premises clean after use and follow general guidelines on hygiene, safety distances and other arrangements to prevent coronavirus infections. The current restrictions on gatherings must also be followed in the premises.
Maintenance work and visits
If you have filed a fault report and there are a sick, exposed or quarantined person is in the apartment, please cancel the fault report and make a new one when there are no more sick, exposed or quarantined persons in the apartment.
Inspections made when moving out
Please contact office@tys.fi if you terminated your lease, your apartment has not yet been inspected and there are a sick, exposed or quarantined person is in the apartment.
Moving into/out of an apartment
New tenant receives the keys on the first working day of the month at 12 noon, which is also the official date of the move of the tenant moving out according to the Room Rental Act, i.e. there may be an overlap in the moves. Often, however, the first weekday of the month falls on a week so the previous tenant may have already moved out the previous weekend. If the previous tenant has allowed the transfer of their contact information, you can try to agree with him/her so that there is no overlap in the moves.
Before moving, the tenant moving out must clean the apartment. Cleaning includes e.g. wiping the surfaces of the apartment and cleaning the refrigerator and stove. You can read more about moving out cleaning at: https://tys.fi/en/information-for-tenants-moving-out. More thorough cleaning is than this is the responsibility of the tenant moving in. As the official move-in date of the tenant moving put is the same as the first possible move-in date of the tenant moving in, it is not possible for TYS to clean the apartments separately between moves.
Traveling / Arriving to Finland
Tenants must follow the prevailing travel-related official guidelines and remain in quarantine after arriving to Finland if the official guidelines recommend it. More information on home quarantine for people arriving from different countries can be found here: https://thl.fi/en/web/infectious-diseases-and-vaccinations/what-s-new/coronavirus-covid-19-latest-updates/travel-and-the-coronavirus-pandemic
Outdoor Sports Facilities
The outdoor sports facilities and equipment in the proximity of TYS’s housing locations will remain open to everyone in accordance with the guidelines of the City of Turku. When using the facilities and equipment safety distances and the restrictions on gatherings set by the Finnish government should be followed. Fitness equipment should be cleaned before use and it may be a good idea to use safe gloves during exercise as a precaution. In order to minimise the risk of infection, it is important that not too many people are exercising in same areas at the same time.
We recommend downloading the Koronavilkku application
We recommend that all TYS tenants download the Koronavilkku application. Koronavilkku is a contact tracing app produced by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) to help you find out whether you may have been exposed to coronavirus. If you have a coronavirus test and are diagnosed as infected, you can use the app to share this anonymously with those you have been in close contact with. Your privacy is strongly protected. The application is available free of charge in Finnish, Swedish and English from application stores. More information about the application is available at https://koronavilkku.fi/en/
Tenant committee events and meetings
The current meeting restrictions must be followed when organizing tenant committee events and meetings.
Follow the instructions from the authorities on coronavirus
Please follow the instructions from the authorities on how to deal with corona virus prevention, suspicion of infection, or other corona virus related issues.
More information:
Hospital District of Southwest Finland
Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare website
Turku University Hospital TYKS website
The guidelines of the Finnish government
National corona counselling service: tel. 0295 535 535.
Turku University Hospital, TYKS Acute’s help desk: tel. 02 313 8800 (open every day 24 hours).
City of Turku Corona Advice, tel. +358 2 266 2714, (weekdays from 8 am to 3 pm).
The City of Turku’s Åbot answers questions about coronavirus online. Åbot speaks more than 110 languages and helps customers online around the clock. You can ask questions at Åbot at https://covid.neuvola.com/turku
The city of Turku distributes masks to those with low income
In accordance with the recommendations of THL and STM, the City of Turku distributes free face masks to low-income residents over the age of 15 for moving in public transport and using public services. The purpose is to help those whose life situation does not allow them to buy masks. As a rule, local residents must buy the masks they need themselves.
Mask distribution points:
- Kauppatori Monitori, KOP-kolmio (Aurakatu 8), mask distribution Tue, Wed and Thu 9–11, Sat 10–12 from the info, at other times customers can inquire about masks from the lobby advisor and security information.
- Skanssin Monitori (Skanssi shopping center, on the second floor at the end of the eastern park, opposite the Intersport store) open Mon-Thu 12–18 and Fri 11–17.
- Social Services, Linnankatu 23, (Eskeli), open on weekdays from 8.15 am to 15.45 pm.
It is also worth inquiring about the student body of your own educational institution.
Further information: City of Turku mask distribution – www.turku.fi/maskijako
Six essentials on how to protect yourself and your loved ones from a coronavirus infection:
- If you get symptoms, go get tested for coronavirus and otherwise stay at home.
- Minimize contacts and remember to keep a distance of more than 2 metres to others.
- Wash your hands and cough in your sleeve.
- Wear a mask when you are in places where there are other people.
- Keep the Koronavilkku app on and follow its instructions.
- Get both vaccinations doses.
If you get symptoms, stay at home and go get tested for coronavirus if necessary
We recommend that you stay at home if you have even mild symptoms of a coronavirus infection. If necessary, go get a coronavirus test following the instructions of the authorities in your area.
First, take a symptom checker in the Omaolo service. In some municipalities, you can book an appointment for the test through Omaolo or you can obtain instructions on how to book an appointment.
Check the website of your municipality of residence or the municipality in which you are staying for instructions on getting tested, appointment booking instructions and information on testing locations. The tests are free of charge in public health care services
Coronavirus tests
Keep distance from others
Coronavirus can be also be transmitted from a person without symptoms.
We recommend that you:
- Keep distance from others in public indoors areas where there are many people in close proximity to each other. Examples of indoor public places include shopping malls and public transport vehicles.
- In public events, follow the instructions of the organisers.
- Do not shake hands.
Wash your hands and cough in your sleeve
Wash your hands frequently with water and soap. Make sure that you wash your hands for at least 20 seconds each time.
It is especially important to wash your hands:
- when you come in from outside
- before cooking and eating
- after using the toilet
- after coughing, sneezing or blowing your nose
- after touching surfaces that have been touched by a person with flu symptoms.
Also remember the dry your hands properly. Change hand towels frequently at home. When outside your home, dry your hands thoroughly on a clean, dry, disposable paper towel or a roller towel.
If you cannot wash your hands, use an alcohol-based or other hand sanitiser approved by the chemical authority.
Do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth unless you have just washed your hands.
Cough and sneeze into a disposable tissue and put the tissue in the bin immediately after use. If you do not have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your sleeve, not into your hands.
Wear a mask when you are in places where there are many other people
A face mask will prevent droplets from spreading into the environment. When you use a face mask, you protect others from infection.
It is good to use a mask in situations in which the risk of infection might be great. We recommend to use a mask especially in public indoor areas where there are many people in close proximity to each other.
We recommend that you pay attention to the mask recommendation especially if you have not been fully vaccinated.
