Health officials highlighted signs of improvement in the coronavirus situation in their weekly coronavirus report on Thursday. The number of patients in intensive care has fallen by a third in the last week.
Officials at the Department of Social Affairs and Health (MSAH) and the Department of Health and Welfare (THL) said the Omicron wave, which began about two months ago, has leveled off nationwide. However, according to them, there are still regional differences. In some areas, the pandemic may be at its peak, while in others the situation is largely unchanged and may worsen.
Infection pressures on the population are still high, but the consequences of infections in relation to their number are clearly milder than in previous waves, officials said at a news conference in Helsinki.
The most significant risks now relate to the declining number of unvaccinated people and those who, for one reason or another, do not have adequate protection against the serious consequences of the disease.
The ICU load is lighter
The need for intensive care with Covid-19 is clearly declining.
There were 32 patients in intensive care on Thursday, up from 49 a week earlier, a drop of about a third.
A significant proportion of those infected with Covid are generally in hospital for some other reason, with an estimated one in four patients in the normal ward and one in five in intensive care, the professor said. Matti Reinikainen At the press conference of Kuopio University Hospital.
From Wednesday to Thursday, laboratories confirmed 6,788 new coronavirus infections, THL says. A further 29 deaths were reported.
Two-thirds of ICU men
A total of 250 coronavirus-related deaths have been reported in the last two weeks. Eighty-two percent of these patients were over 70 years of age and had a mean age of 82.
During the two-year pandemic, nearly 1,600 covid-positive people have been in intensive care. Two-thirds of them have been men with a median age of 57 years. The average duration of intensive care has been 11 days.
Mortality rises after the age of 60. About one in four 60-69 year olds has died despite intensive care. About half of those over the age of 80 have died despite treatment.
Vaccinations are increasing, RNA in wastewater down
More than 90 percent of those over 60 years of age who have received two doses of the vaccine have also received a third dose. Anna KatzProject Manager, THL.
Katz points out that the protection provided by the second vaccination expires after about six months.
At the same time, rising levels of coronary virus residues in wastewater have been reversed in most areas, Liisa-Maria Voipio-Pulkkibe called "positive sign".
However, the upward trend seems to be continuing in Oulu and has slowed down only slightly in Tampere, Jyväskylä and Pori.
Coronavirus RNA can still be excreted in wastewater an average of three weeks after infection.
Source: The Nordic Page