“If there is some kind of crisis, there might be some disturbance” in the supply chain, he explained.

Two weeks ago, as the country’s coronavirus cases ticked up — by Sunday, the country had recorded more than 1,880 cases and 25 deaths — the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health ordered that stored masks be sent to hospitals around the country.

“The masks are old — but they are still functioning,” Mr. Lounema said by phone.

There is little publicly available information on the number of masks and other supplies that Finland has or where exactly they are stored.

“All information considering those warehouses is classified,” Mr. Lounema said.

But though details are kept a state secret, the authorities confirmed that the stockpiles are kept in a network of facilities spread across the country and that the current system has been in place since the 1950s.

That has placed Finland in a more solid position to confront the pandemic.

As officials in other countries like the United States lament the shortage of masks, ventilators and gowns and the global coronavirus cases increased to more than 1.2 million by Sunday, with more than 64,000 deaths, tales abound of international skulduggery and domestic price gouging. Nations are competing for medical supplies and racing to create a vaccine.