Many youths infected from bars, events as coronavirus cases up

A total of 1,651 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Finland between 5 and 11 July and the number of cases has been increasing for the past three weeks, said the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) in a joint press release on Thursday.

About 540 new cases were reported in the middle of June (14–20 June), after which the number of cases has about tripled.

The COVID-19 epidemic is now spreading among socially active young adults, for example at bars, restaurants and social events.

As in the previous weeks, the highest number of infections was reported among 20–29-year-olds, who accounted for one third of all infections between 5 and 11 July. People aged 10–19 accounted for 25 per cent of all new cases, with most of these cases reported among people who had reached the age of 18.

Currently, the estimated effective basic reproduction number is 1.0–1.25, with a 90 per cent probability. The rise in the number of infections among young adults between 5 and 11 July has led to an increase in the estimated basic reproduction number.

The percentage of cases where the virus was contracted abroad has halved compared to the previous week. In Finland, 12 per cent of the cases reported between 5 and 11 July originated from abroad, and the further infections resulting from them accounted for 3 per cent of all cases.

About 94,200 COVID-19 tests were taken between 5 and 11 July. The percentage of positive COVID-19 cases of all samples taken was 1.8 per cent between 5 and 11 July. This figure has tripled since mid-June when it was 0.6 per cent.

In Finland, the infections caused by the Delta variant account for over 80 per cent of the positive test results that are analysed further. The COVID-19 variant is determined in about one in five positive samples. The fact that in recent weeks Euro 2020 football fans returning from Russia have accounted for a large percentage of genotyped samples may lead us to overestimate the percentage of cases caused by the Delta variant to some extent.

The Delta variant was identified in about 90 per cent of the samples taken from people who had tested positive for COVID-19 at the eastern border or who had had contacts with someone based in or recently coming from Russia.

The number of patients in hospital care has remained stable despite the growing number of new cases. Based on the information provided by the hospital districts, a total of 43 people were receiving hospital care due to the COVID-19 disease on 14 July 2021.

Of them, 6 were inpatients in primary healthcare, 27 inpatients in specialised healthcare and 10 inpatients in intensive care.

According to the forecast, the number of new periods in specialised healthcare and intensive care in Finland will increase slightly over the next week.

About 63 per cent of the population in the country have received at least their first vaccine dose and 25 per cent their second dose.

On 14 July 2021, the total number of COVID-19-related deaths reported to the communicable diseases register was 978, while in the previous week it was 976.