On Thursday, there were a total of 820 patients with coronavirus in Finland, 38 of whom were in intensive care. The number of patients in hospital ranged from 600 to 650 between mid-January and early February.
The daily number of new infections is currently in the thousands.
Salminen added that he sees little benefit in restoring social and business restrictions to control the situation. He emphasized that countries across the Nordic countries and Europe have come to the conclusion that life needs to be learned with the coronavirus and that restrictions can only move the problem into the future.
“All the Nordic countries have lifted their restrictions and recognized that the restrictions cannot prevent new infections forever,” he said.
“A huge amount has been done to help people protect themselves from the coronavirus. Vaccines have been given to the whole population in principle and everyone can get them. If anyone decides not to do so, it is their own decision. “
The high incidence of infections will inevitably lead to death, he admitted.
“Of course, it’s not nice that people die from an infectious disease, but we can’t simply eradicate the disease. The number of deaths relative to cases is, in fact, at an all-time low [during the pandemic]Salminen told YLE.
Minister of Family and Social Affairs Who is Linden However, the SDP expressed concern about the elderly and estimated that a fourth vaccination may be necessary. Although Salminen assured that fourth doses of the vaccine would be offered if deemed necessary, he also recalled that it was still unclear whether they offered significant long-term benefits to the elderly.
THL announced earlier this week that it has abandoned its plan to facilitate a nationwide mask recommendation this week due to the high number of infections.
Linden welcomed the decision, saying, “The effect of masks has been talked about, but masks also have symbolic value because they serve as a reminder that we live in the midst of a pandemic.”
Salminen refused to speculate on how long the recommendation would be valid, but pointed out that mask recommendations have already disappeared in other Nordic countries.
Both Lindén and Salminen predicted that Finland should find itself in an easier epidemiological situation as a result of the seasonal fluctuations in April and early June. However, setbacks are still possible.
One external factor exacerbating the situation is the threat of a large-scale strike in the health sector. Healthcare union (Tehy) and Nurses’ Association (Super) on Thursday warned of a two-week strike covers about 40,000 nurses in 13 hospital districts.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
Source: The Nordic Page