The highly contagious variant has already become the dominant variant in the Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District (HUS). The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has estimated that even if the variant causes less severe forms of the disease, the peak of infection will increase the pressure on hospital resources.
Demand for intensive care is expected to increase, especially as the variant begins to spread in older age groups.
“We expect that in the coming weeks or months we will have a record number of intensive care patients throughout the coronavirus cycle.” Stepani Bendel, Chief Physician of Intensive Care at Kuopio University Hospital, stated To Helsingin Sanomat.
Matti Reinikainen, Professor of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, University of Eastern Finland, said To YLE, although the number of coronavirus patients in intensive care peaked at 83 in April 2020, the situation was not as severe as it is today due to tighter restrictions, a higher level of preparedness and the complete cessation of non-emergency surgeries.
Bendel mentioned Norway as an example. The country has high vaccination coverage and population, health care and intensive care criteria such as Finland’s. Still, there were more than 100 patients with coronavirus in intensive care last week.
– Finland is also moving in that direction. We are kind of along the line, he told Helsingin Sanomat.
Finland will find itself in a precarious situation if no further measures are taken to limit social contacts, the experts emphasized without submitting concrete proposals. “We are not lawyers or epidemiologists. We are concerned about the number of patients in intensive care,” Bendel commented.
prime minister Sanna Marin (SDP) said Monday that the government will announce new restrictions on Tuesday.
Ministers for Social Affairs and Health met yesterday to discuss the situation, but failed to finalize the proposal for measures, despite a meeting that lasted more than midnight. According to Helsingin Sanomat. Ministers are expected to present their proposals to the rest of the government by 4 p.m. on Tuesday.
The National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) said on Monday that 5,932 new coronavirus infections had been diagnosed in Finland since Friday. The number of coronavirus-related deaths has risen by 39 to 1,493.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
Source: The Nordic Page