The number of coronavirus infections registered by health authorities in the Helsinki region is close to a thousand.
The latest figures published on Thursday morning by the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) show that a total of 1,518 cases of coronavirus have been diagnosed across the country. This is 72 more than in the previous day.
Of them, 960 cases (or 63.2%) have been found in the region of Uusimaa (Helsinki and surroundings) which is by far the most affected area. The number of infections in Uusimaa increased by 26 compared to one day before.
This means that, despite the confinement measures imposed on this province by the Finnish Government, almost two out of every three cases of Covid-19 detected in Finland are still located in the Helsinki metropolitan area.
Source: THL
Risk groups
Other areas severely affected by the epidemic are Pirkanmaa (Tampere region), which has 110 diagnosed cases; Southwest Finland (Turku) with 69 cases detected and Ostrobothnia (Oulu region) with 63 diagnosed infections.
With regard to the different age groups, the most numerous group of those infected are people between 50 and 59 years old (324 cases), followed by those between 30 and 40 (299 cases). If we look at the risk groups, there are a total of 152 people over 70 who are suffering from the disease.
People diagnosed with coronavirus in Finland by age. Source: THL
However, Finnish authorities admit the number of infected people may be much higher simply because not all the people who show symptoms are tested. Tests are carried out now mainly on people with severe respiratory symptoms and people belonging to risk groups, mainly the elder and health care workers.
Finnish Government said the testing capacity will be improved at Finnish hospitals in the coming days.
