A patient at Tampere’s Rauhaniemi parents’ hospital died at the Covid-19 hospital over the weekend, raising the hospital’s virus-related deaths to 11 when a local outbreak began in the facility last month.
Authorities said no new coronavirus infections were diagnosed at the hospital over the weekend.
News of the hospital’s outbreak first appeared in early December. At the time, Yle reported that staff had been ordered back to work before the quarantines related to their exposure had been completed.
Since the onset of the local outbreak in the facility, a total of 110 cases of coronavirus have been reported among staff (51) and patients (59).
Patients have been offered vaccinations that began on Monday. The facility’s nursing staff began receiving vaccinations after the Christmas break.
According to the deputy director of the city of Tampere, the long duration of the outbreak in Rauhaniemi has surprised experts, Lauri Seinelä.
"It is surprising that the epidemic has continued among staff for so long. At the moment, the protection measures are good and they are implemented, the hygiene measures are almost at full efficiency and the cleaning activity is also top notch. The mystery is why the situation has continued," Seinelä said.
The hospital’s ventilation system was inspected, but Seinelä said the air in the exhaust and suction openings was not mixed and the ventilation ducts themselves were not dirty.
"The air conditioning system works as well as it can using 1980s technology. The old building does not meet modern requirements," he explained.
Seinelä said that all hospital patients who agreed to the vaccinations have received them.
Source: The Nordic Page