474 new coronavirus deaths reported in 2 weeks in Finland

The coronavirus death toll in the country has reached 4,063 till Sunday as a total of 474 new deaths were reported in the last two weeks (18 April to 1May).

In the preceding two-week period the figure was 337, said the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) in a joint press release on Thursday..

The average age (median) of those who have died during the epidemic is 83 years.

The number of deaths related to COVID-19 has risen as infections have also spread widely among older people.

Between 18 April and 1 May, a total of over 600 new COVID-19 patients were admitted to specialised healthcare. Before the number of new COVID-19 patients started to decline in April, over 800 patients were admitted to care within a two-week period.

The need for intensive care also started to fall after March. Between 18 April and 1 May, a total of 38 new COVID-19 patients were admitted to intensive care, while in the preceding two-week period the number was 58.

On 4 May 2022, the total number of COVID-19 patients in primary healthcare was 471.

Although the number of patients decreased clearly in April, the total number is still high.

On 4 May, about 40 per cent of all COVID-19 patients in primary healthcare were being treated mainly for some other reason than COVID-19.

The estimated effective basic reproduction number is 0.75–0.85 with a 90 per cent probability.

Last time (20 April), the number was 0.80–0.90. A value of below 1 indicates a downward trend in the epidemic. However, it is possible that the epidemic progresses at different speeds in different age groups.

Based on the wastewater samples collected this (1–2 May 2022) and last week (24–25 April 2022), the overall levels of coronavirus RNA in Finland’s wastewater have remained high.

However, based on the last five times when the levels of coronavirus RNA in wastewater were measured, the levels have started to decrease at the national level.

In Finland, over 87 per cent of people who are 18 years of age or over have received at least two vaccine doses and 64 per cent three vaccine doses. Over 86 per cent of those aged 60 or over have received three vaccine doses, and 52 per cent of those aged 80 or over have received their fourth vaccine dose.