THL also released its new guidelines for those who have had or come into contact with the coronavirus on Thursday, as testing work is being reduced in many areas. It says people don’t usually have to go for testing if they’re healthy, in good general shape, and have mild respiratory symptoms.
“However, THL recommends that you voluntarily avoid contact with anyone outside the household for at least five days,” it added. news release.
If symptoms persist for more than three days, people should avoid contact with others for another two days after the symptoms disappear. THL also stated that people should always follow local guidelines if they deviate from its guidelines.
People exposed to the virus, ie living in the same household as the positive test and in close contact with the positive laboratory test, should avoid contact, as far as possible, until five days after the onset of symptoms in the infected person.
In households with multiple confirmed cases, days are counted from the time the last infected person had symptoms.
Exposed persons should also wear a mask outside the home and, if possible, work remotely. If they have no symptoms, they can go to work while wearing the mask and avoiding close contact. Asymptomatic children, in turn, can go to school or kindergarten as soon as five days have passed since the first symptoms of an infected parent or sibling.
Officials from THL and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health said on Thursday that during the coronavirus pandemic, intensive care periods began like never before. January. There were a total of 68 people in intensive care on Wednesday, 311 in special care and 330 in primary care units due to coronavirus disease.
The number of new cases has almost tripled since December.
– The incidence is the highest we have seen, and it does not even reflect reality, comments Chief Physician Otto Helve of THL.
According to him, the fact that about 30 percent of the tests returned positive in the last two weeks suggests that a large proportion of infections go undetected.
The omicron variant has become the dominant variant in Finland. Although infections are also found in large numbers in vaccinated individuals, they do not lead to intensive care as often as among non-vaccinated individuals, he said. Liisa-Maria Voipio-Pulkki, senior expert in the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.
“Unvaccination remains the biggest risk factor for coronavirus disease that requires intensive care,” he said.
“There are an astonishing number of symptomatic infections, but the proportion of serious forms of the disease would be much higher if booster vaccinations had progressed as well as they did.”
No definitive data are yet available on the severity of the disease caused by the omicron variant. However, Finnish hospitals are preparing for the possibility that the burden will continue to grow.
– We have not yet reached the peak of the epidemic, Voipio-Pulkki said.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
Source: The Nordic Page