Coronavirus infection level in country still high

The number of new coronavirus infections is still at a high level and a number of regions are in the community transmission phase, said the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) in a press release on Friday.

It is possible that the epidemic will take a sudden turn for the worse across the country.

However, there are indications that the sharp increase in new cases in mid-November seems to have levelled off.

Between 30 November and 6 December, a total of 3,002 new cases were reported to the communicable diseases registrar, representing an increase of 132 from that in the previous week.

The incidence of new cases was 54 per 100,000 inhabitants, while in the previous week it was 57.

The total number of new cases in the last two-week period (23 November–6 December) was 6136, or 1,895 cases more than that in the preceding two-week period.

The incidence of new cases was 111 per 100,000 inhabitants, while in the preceding two-week period it was 77.

Currently, the estimated basic reproduction number is 1.05–1.25, with a 90 per cent probability.

One in five new cases was reported among people already in quarantine.

During the period of 30 November–6 December, around 13,000–22,000 samples were analysed daily. The percentage of positive COVID-19 cases of all samples was about 2.3%.