“The situation looked alarming as the number of infections increased rapidly. It is a fact that the peak has now passed, ” Mika Salminen, Was the Director of Health Security at the Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare (THL) quoted Helsingin Sanomat.
Demand for hospital capacity has also remained modest.
THL reported 188 new infections
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“There is a demand for hospital and critical care all over Finland”, Liisa-Maria Voipio-Pulkki, Director-General for Strategic Affairs and Chief Physician of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, summary according to YLE.
– However, the figures are so low that we cannot tell whether the morbidity or clinical form of intensive care patients differs from last spring. The average age of people admitted to intensive care is exactly the same as last spring, just under 50 years, ”Voipio-Pulkki added.
Lowering the tide of infections is also evident regionally.
The Vaasa Hospital District is still the only district in the spread of the epidemic. The phase is characterized by a regional prevalence of 18 to 50 infections per 100,000 inhabitants and an inability to trace more than 50 percent of infections to the source. When the Hospital District of Southern Ostrobothnia announced that it had returned from the acceleration to the basic phase, there are only five hospital districts left in the acceleration phase.
According to Salminen, Finland has a relatively good chance of facing a second wave of infections after a relatively quiet summer of infections. According to him, Finns have also admirably followed the most important recommendations, such as social distance and the use of face masks.
– Finns mostly follow instructions and recommendations. It is advisable to stick to measures that have been adopted regionally, ”he said.
He also thanked the audience for receiving the national contact monitoring application Koronavilkku. “The corona flasher has been downloaded by 2.5 million Finns. And those who are given an infection code have also used it. This speeds up notifications of possible exposures, ”Salminen said.
Improvements have also been made in tracing coronavirus infections at source, with non-traceable infections accounting for 35–40% from 19 to 25 October. The proportion of infections that cannot be traced to their source has also fallen below the 50% limit in the Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District (HUS).
“In Finland, tracing seems to be smoother and infection chains are being broken successfully. The development has been positive, especially at HUS, ”Voipio-Pulkki said.
However, he stressed the importance of following guidelines to limit the spread of the virus, especially as the festive winter season approaches and people start spending more time indoors.
“We should now really stick to this so that we don’t get as worse off as some other countries,” he said.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
Source: The Nordic Page