Coronavirus situation remains stable

The epidemiological situation has remained stable in Finland in the past few weeks, said the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) in a press release on Thursday.

The number of new COVID-19 cases took a sharp downward turn in late March, which levelled out in late April. Since then the number of new cases has remained stable.

The epidemic is developing in two directions. More social contacts and the more transmissible virus variants may increase the number of infections.

At the same time, the progress in the vaccine rollout and seasonality drive the number of cases down. This explains why the number of weekly infections remains stable.

Between 17 and 23 May, about 1,300 new cases were reported to the communicable diseases register, showing a decrease of more than 100 cases from the previous week.

The incidence of new cases over the last two weeks was 49 per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to 52 in the preceding two-week period. During the week, 1.1 per cent of all samples tested positive for COVID-19, showing a slight decrease on the previous week.

People already in quarantine accounted for 35 per cent of all new cases between 17 and 23 May, compared to 40 per cent in the previous week.

The coronavirus situation is very different across the country. Southern and southwestern Finland have the highest numbers of new cases. However, the situation has improved considerably in the Hospital District of Southwest Finland compared to the previous week.

Between 17 and 23 May, the incidence of COVID-19 was highest in Central Ostrobothnia, although even there the situation has improved from the previous week. In Kanta-Häme, the epidemiological situation has worsened.

In eastern and northern Finland, the weekly number of new cases is below ten in many areas. However, the deteriorated COVID-19 situation in the northern parts of Norway and Sweden raises concerns in northern Finland.

More than 90 per cent of people aged 70 or older and more than 50 per cent of people aged over 16 in the country have received their first vaccine dose. It is estimated that all those aged 16 or over who wish to be vaccinated will have received their first dose by the end of July.