230 new coronavirus deaths reported in 2 weeks in Finland

The coronavirus death toll in the country has reached 2,242 till Wednesday as a total of 230 new deaths were reported in the last two weeks (3-16 February), said the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) in a joint press release on Thursday.

In January 2022, people over 70 years of age accounted for 86 per cent of these deaths and people over 80 for 63 per cent of the deaths.

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 epidemic has stabilised over the past few weeks. The need for hospital care has remained at a high but stable level and the burden on intensive care at the same level as the week before.

On 16 February, there were 359 inpatients in specialised healthcare, which is slightly more than a week ago. The total number of patients in intensive care was 30, which is the same as the week before.

Between 7 and 13 February, 32 new COVID-19 patients were admitted to intensive care, while in the previous week this number was 29.

An estimated 28 per cent of all COVID-19 patients on ordinary wards in specialised healthcare were admitted for some other reason than COVID-19. The percentage was 27 for intensive care. These percentages increased slightly from last week.

Assessing the spread of the epidemic involves a considerable degree of uncertainty. Currently, the estimated effective basic reproduction number is 0.95–1.15, with a 90 per cent probability.

The overall level of SARS-CoV-2 genetic material in Finland’s wastewater has, however, remained high. Based on the last five times when the levels of SARS-CoV-2 genetic material in wastewater have been measured, it has become clear that the amount of genetic material in wastewater has started to decrease only in Helsinki whereas it has increased or remained stable in other areas.

By 16 February, 88.7 per cent of people in Finland who are 18 years of age or over had received at least one vaccine dose, 86.1 per cent at least two vaccine doses and 59.6 per cent three vaccine doses.

A fourth vaccine dose is recommended for those aged 12 or over who have a severely weakened immune system.