Coronavirus infection cases raise to 2176 in Finland

The number of coronavirus infection cases in Finland has risen to 2176, as 249 more cases were diagnosed on Monday in different areas of the country, said the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).

A total of 228 patients are now in hospitals, including 81 in intensive care units.

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. Only the seriously ill and people in risk-groups, such as social and healthcare workers, are being tested in the country now.

Meanwhile, the coronavirus death toll in Finland has risen to 27, not 28, the THL made the correction on Monday to the figure it had announced earlier, on Sunday.

THL said so far 20 people died in the Helsinki-Uusimaa Hospital District (HUS), five in the Pohjois-Savo Hospital District (KYS), one in the Tampere- Pirkanmaa (TAYS) Hospital District and one in the Pohjois-Pohjanmaa (OYS) Hospital District.

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

The news agency Xinhua adds: THL said 1,362 of the cases were diagnosed in the Helsinki-Uusimaa Hospital District (HUS), which covers 24 municipalities in southern Finland, including the capital city area.

To prevent the spread of coronavirus to other parts of the country, the Finnish government has earlier blocked travelling in and out of the Uusimaa region.

Elevated numbers of new infections may be due to increased testing capacity, THL explained, saying that the number of testing had doubled in a few days last week.

So far, health authorities in Finland have performed 32,800 tests for the virus. The daily test capacity, now standing at about 2,500 samples, will increase to 4,000 in the coming weeks.

According to the national broadcaster Yle, the epidemic has spread to nursing homes with dozens of infections. A total of six older people have died in the past few days.

In a press release issued on Monday, THL announced that it is beginning a study on factors that may impact the severity of the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

The University of Tampere, meanwhile, has started developing a coronavirus vaccine aimed at treating the second wave of COVID-19 outbreak.