Need for hospital care for COVID-19 on wane

The number of new COVID-19 cases reported in Finland has decreased noticeably over the past few weeks, said the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health in a press release on Thursday.

The number started to fall before Easter. The current restrictions and recommendations and the closure of businesses serving food and beverages have clearly been effective and prevented infections.

Vaccinations have also reduced infections, particularly among older people. It is imperative that this positive trend continues so that the restrictions can be gradually eased and dismantled later in the spring.

Between 5 April and 11 April, more than 2,500 new cases were reported to the communicable diseases register, showing a decrease of nearly 750 cases from the corresponding figure in the previous week. The incidence of new cases was 45 per 100,000 inhabitants, while in the previous week it was 59.

The total number of new cases in the last two-week period was more than 5,700, which was about 1,600 cases fewer than that in the preceding two-week period. The incidence of new cases was 104 per 100,000 inhabitants, while in the preceding two-week period it was 160.

Currently, the estimated basic reproduction number is 0.75–0.95, with a 90 per cent probability. This is at the same level as in the week before.

A total of 118,000 COVID-19 tests were taken between 5 April and 11 April, which is slightly less than that in the previous week and noticeably less than that in March.

The percentage of positive COVID-19 cases of all samples taken in Finland continued to decrease, as in the previous week, now standing at 2.1 per cent. The figure still stood at 3.3 per cent between 8 and 14 March, for example.

In Finland as a whole, the sources of infections were traced in 73 per cent of all new cases of domestic origin.

The number of people requiring intensive care due to COVID-19 has decreased noticeably in the past three weeks.

The number of patients in other hospital care have also dropped: on 14 April there were 34 patients in intensive care, 42 inpatients in primary healthcare and 104 inpatients in specialised healthcare.

The total number of COVID-19 inpatients was 180, compared to 250 in the previous week. The need for hospitalisation is expected to decrease further in the coming weeks.

Between 5 and 11 April, the incidence rate was the highest among 10-19-year-olds. Most of the infections in this age group have been traced back to home or other social contacts. The incidence rate was also high among 20-29-year-olds and 30-39-year-olds.

The incidence has, however, remained low among people over 70 years of age since the beginning of this year.