Coronavirus infections rise to 10,103 with 111 new cases

The total number of coronavirus infections in the country has increased to 10,103 as 111 more cases were diagnosed in the last 24 hours, said the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) on Thursday.

The number of coronavirus deaths in Finland, however, remains unchanged at 344, as no new death has been reported in the last 24 hours.

The last coronavirus death was reported on 28 September.

So far a total of 279 people have died in the Helsinki-Uusimaa Hospital District (HUS), 25 in the Pohjois-Savo Hospital District (KYS), 20 in the Turku Hospital District (TYKS), 13 in the Pohjois-Pohjanmaa Hospital District (OYS), and seven in the Tampere-Pirkanmaa (TAYS) Hospital District.

Until Thursday, 8,100 or more than 80% coronavirus-infected patients in Finland had recovered.

A total of 19 COIVID-19 patients, including four in intensive care units (ICUs), are now undergoing treatment at different hospitals.

According to the THL report, in relation to Finland’s total population (5,543,233), the prevalence of COVID-19 cases is 182 per 100,000 people.

Currently, laboratories in the country have the testing capacity of about 20,000 samples a day.

Meanwhile, the weekly number of new coronavirus cases has increased significantly in Finland over the last month, said a press release of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health on Thursday.

Of the indicators defined in the hybrid strategy, the incidence of new cases both in the previous seven days and in the previous 14 days as well as the proportion of positive COVID-19 cases of all samples taken have grown at an alarming rate.

The epidemiological situation has deteriorated quickly, particularly in the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa.

During the period of 21–27 September, a total of 425 new cases were reported in the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa. In the previous week, the number of reported cases was 226.

The coronavirus coordination group of the Greater Helsinki area confirmed on 24 September that the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa had entered the acceleration phase.

Over the past few weeks, more and more large domestic clusters of COVID-19 and mass exposures have been reported in Finland, and these have resulted in further infections. Most of the new cases are related to known chains of transmission from around the country. The aim is to continue to trace all new cases as carefully as possible.

During the period of 21–27 September, cases with unknown source of infection accounted for about half of the new confirmed cases. Most of the cases with unknown source were reported in the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa. In about two-thirds of all cases reported in the district, the source of infection was unknown. As for the rest of the country, the source of infection was unknown in about one-fifth of the cases.