May Day. Finland broke the mark of 5,000 coronavirus infections.
On Friday 1 May, the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) reported 56 more Covid-19 cases. With them, the total number of laboratory-diagnosed cases rose to 5,051.
The health agency also reported 7 new deaths associated with the disease, bringing the total number of Covid-19 deaths in Finland to 218.
The ages of the dead
The health agency has disclosed a few details regarding 157 the dead. The majority of the dead people (over 90%) had one or more chronic diseases. The most common of them were heart diseases and diabetes.
Source: THL.
The median age of the deceased is 84. There are fewer than five deaths in each of the 30–39, 40–49 and 50–59 age groups, 12 deaths in the 60–69 age group, 35 deaths in the 70–79 age group, 80 deaths in the 80–89 age group, and 41 deaths in the 90+ age group.
53% of the dead were men and 47% were women.
Of all the (218) deceased, 20% have been in specialised hospital care, 30% in a primary healthcare unit, 49% in a welfare unit and 1% at home or elsewhere.
New deaths all in Helsinki area
Helsinki-Uusimaa remains the epicenter and region hardest hit by the epidemic. According to official figures, to date, 3,486 cases of Covid-19 have been found in the capital metropolitan area. Of them, 1,888 in the city of Helsinki.
The 7 deaths reported on May Day occurred in the Helsinki University Hospital catchment area (HYKS), where so far the vast majority of the deaths (177) have been recorded.
Helsinki-Uusimaa is also the region with the highest incidence of infections: there are already 206.8 diagnosed cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
In intensive care units
On Friday, the official number of patients hospitalized due to coronavirus was 185. And the number of people in intensive care units was 49.
In relation to the total Finnish population (5,543,233), the average incidence rate is 91 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
According to a preliminary estimate by THL, there are at least 3,000 people who may have already recovered from the disease.
To date, Finnish laboratories have taken samples from approximately 97,600 people.
