Finland continues de-escalation as infections decline

Finland continues to de-escalate as the vaccination process progresses and anti-Covid measures are eased. In one of its latest decisions, the government has decided to ease restrictions on restaurants in the Kymenlaakso region and the East Savo hospital district.

The number of new Covid-19 cases found across the country continued to decline between 26 April and 2 May, although the rate of decline slowed down slightly.

The regional differences in the development of the epidemic have also evened out to some extent and it is expected that the need for hospital care will decrease slowly.

These are the main conclusions of the latest monitoring report on the epidemic released on Thursday by the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.

Between 26 April and 2 May, about 1,350 new cases were reported to the communicable diseases register, showing a decrease of about 250 cases from the previous week.

The number of new cases was 73 percent lower in the last week of assessment than in the 8-14 March period, when the number of infections peaked (4,941) during the entire epidemic.

The incidence of new cases was 25 per 100,000 inhabitants between 26 April and 2 May, while in the previous week it was 29.

The total number of new cases reported in the last two-week period was 2,980, which is 1,490 cases fewer than in the preceding two-week period. The incidence of new cases was 54 per 100,000 inhabitants, while in the preceding two-week period it was 81.

Cases of foreign origin

The majority of new cases detected were of domestic origin.

The number of cases where the virus was contracted abroad has remained at the same level in recent weeks, but owing to the decrease in the total number of cases, the proportion of cases of foreign origin grew by 1.5 percentage points from the previous week, currently standing at 7 percent.

Between 26 April and 2 May, the source of infection was traced in almost 70 per cent of all new cases of domestic origin.

The incidence in all age groups under 50 years of age was down on the previous week. The incidence decreased the most among 20–29-year-olds. The incidence rate was highest among 10–19-year-olds.

More than 114,000 Covid-19 tests were taken between 26 April and 2 May. The percentage of positive samples of those tested was about 1.2 percent.

People in hospital care

The number of coronavirus patients in hospital care was highest at the end of March before Easter (between 22 March and 4 April). After this, the total number of patients in hospital care has reduced by half. However, over the past two weeks, the number of patients has remained relatively stable. 

On Thursday 6 May, there were 27 patients in intensive care of a total 127 in hospitals.

So far, Finnish health authorities have reported 88,078 coronavirus infections and 919 deaths.