Fully vaccinated urged to test COVID at home to ease hospital rush

The City of Helsinki on Monday has recommended that the people, who already have been vaccinated against the coronavirus twice to take a home test and stay at home until symptoms have eased, said a press release on Monday.

The authority made the recommendation as the number of people seeking coronavirus testing has increased in Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District (HUS) HUS area resulting difficulty to get appointment for coronavirus test on the same day.

Children under the age of 12 should be tested if they have symptoms suggestive of coronavirus infection and are known to have been exposed to coronavirus in the previous two weeks.

In addition, a child should be tested if the child lives in the same household or regularly meets people aged 16 or over who are not fully vaccinated against coronavirus.

People over the age of 12 should seek testing if they are immunocompromised, belong to an at-risk group, work in social and health care or have been exposed to the coronavirus.

It is recommended that everyone else, including double vaccinated people, take a home test and stay at home until symptoms have eased.

The epidemic is escalating in the Uusimaa region. In the past few days, more than 300 infections have been reported in Helsinki per day.

With the rapid increase in infections, there is a backlog in infection tracking and a delay of several days in contacting infected people.