Coronavirus spreads like wild fire

The number of new COVID-19 cases in Finland has been significantly higher than before over the past two weeks, and the number has continued to increase at an alarming rate despite the restrictions, said the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health in a press release on Thursday.

In fact, during the latest reporting period (22-28 February), Finland recorded the highest number of new cases since the start of the epidemic. The rapid deterioration of the situation calls for swift and more stringent measures to rein in the epidemic.

The incidence of new cases over the last 14-day period has increased in as many as 16 hospital districts.

When compared to the situation of two weeks ago, the incidence of cases has remained at the same level or decreased in only five areas.

The COVID-19 situation has worsened quickly particularly in the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa, the Hospital District of Southwest Finland and the Åland Islands.

Between 22 and 28 February, over 3,900 cases were reported to the communicable diseases register, showing an increase of about 400 cases from the previous week. The incidence of new cases over the last 7-day period was 71 per 100,000 inhabitants.

The total number of new cases in the last two-week period was over 7,400, nearly 2,300 cases more than that in the preceding two-week period. The incidence of new cases over the last 14-day period was 134 per 100,000 inhabitants, while in the preceding two-week period it was 93.

The estimated basic reproduction number has continued to increase, and currently, it is 1.15–1.35, with a 90 per cent probability.

What is positive is that the threshold for people getting tested is low now. The number of COVID-19 tests has almost doubled compared to the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021. Between 22 and 28 February, over 137,000 tests were carried out. Despite the increased number of tests being taken, the number of positive samples continues to grow. During the last two-week period, about 2.8 per cent of all test results were positive.

Particularly the UK variant of the virus continues to spread across Finland. So far, a total of 1,284 cases of the new virus variants have been confirmed in the country. Of these, 1,213 are cases of the UK variant and 70 are of the South African variant. Only one travel-related case of the Brazilian variant, known as P.1, has been identified in Finland so far.

A total of 245 coronavirus patients, including 39 in intensive care units (ICUs), are now undergoing treatment at different hospitals on Thursday.

Between 22 and 28 February, most of the new cases were still reported among working-age adults and young adults.

The vaccine rollout is progressing well in all catchment areas for highly specialised medical care in accordance with the vaccination strategy.

On 3 March 2021, more than 60 per cent of the people over 90 years of age had received at least one vaccine dose, and about half of those aged 80–89 had been vaccinated at least once.