Coronavirus death toll raises to 7 in Finland

The coronavirus death toll in Finland has risen to seven as two more people died in the last 24 hours.

The National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) on Friday said that so far six people died in Helsinki-Uusimaa hospital district (HUS) while one died in Tampere- Pirkanmaa (TAYS) Hospital District.

The THL, however, did not divulge any details about the deceased considering their confidentiality.

Meanwhile, the number of coronavirus infection cases in Finland has climbed to 1025, as 67 new cases were diagnosed on Friday in different areas of the country, said the THL.

A total of 108 patients are in hospital, including 32 in the intensive care unit.

A research organization worldometers, however, said that the total number of coronavirus cases reached to 1,041 till Friday afternoon.

Experts fear that the total number of people infected with coronavirus in Finland is much higher than the official figure counted by the authorities concerned.

As all the suspected cases are not being tested anymore, so the real number of infections is estimated to be much higher. Only the seriously ill and people in risk-groups, such as social and healthcare workers, are being tested in the country now.

The risk of infection has increased throughout Finland. In recent days, an increasing number of coronavirus infections have been diagnosed in the Uusimaa region.

Earlier, the government restricted the traffic between Uusimaa (Helsinki and its adjoining areas) and other regions of the country from March 27 Friday to April 19 to contain the virus outbreak.

News agency Xinhua adds: Hospitals in Finland are concerned that protective gear supplies are running low. Päivi Sillanaukee, director general at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, has described the situation as historic.

The government has announced earlier that strategic stockpiles of hospital equipment would be opened. As the projected number of intensive care (IC) patients is high, work is ongoing to increase IC capacity throughout the country.

The National Emergency Supply Agency (NESA) said on Friday that it had signed large contracts for the delivery of respirator masks needed for healthcare providers.

Jyrki Hakola, basic supply and industry director at the NESA, told national broadcaster Yle that as the biggest producer country, China is the natural place to procure the masks.

Last weekend, Yle reported that masks were already in short supply at certain Finnish hospitals.