600 infections reported through Koronavilkku in September

The use of Koronavilkku designed to help break corona virus infection chains produced 600 reports on coronavirus infections in September, said the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) in a press release on Friday.

This means that about one in three people who contracted the virus in September reported it through Koronavilkku.

Any user is able to report infection by entering a single-use unlock code in the application. People get the unlock code from the tracker of infectious diseases when they interview them.

After entering of the code, the application passes the information on to those who may have been exposed to the infection.

About a thousand people have done a symptom assessment in the Omaolo service after a notification from Koronavilkku. In addition to Omaolo, reports on exposure have encouraged people to get in contact with occupational healthcare. The THL doesn’t have information on the number of calls.

Koronavilkku speeds up the process of reaching people exposed to the virus and breaking infection chains. The more people use the application the more they can be notified quickly about potential exposure.

“We want to thank every user of Koronavilkku for your participation in the fight against the epidemic. Especially as the number of infections increases, breaking infection chains becomes more efficient if people can get a notification of potential exposure and take precautions according to the instructions given in the application,” said THL Director Mika Salminen.