There are already six cases of novel coronavirus Covid-19 confirmed in Finland. Six and counting.
Health authorities confirmed three new cases on Sunday: a child in school age, a retired man and an adult woman.
And while fighting to stop the epidemic, public officials have decided to quarantine some 150 people who have been in close contact with those who have been diagnosed with the disease.
In a press conference held on Sunday evening in Helsinki, authorities said that both the child and the man of retirement age are connected to the woman who was diagnosed last Friday. She had recently traveled to Milan, in north Italy and began feeling the symptoms of the disease when she was back in Finland.
School children quarantined
Now the biggest concern is the people who have been in contact with them.
In the case of the child, authorities have confirmed that he attended Viikki Normal School last week and he was also training with the HJK youth soccer team in Töölo (Helsinki).
The infected youngster, who is studying sixth grade, is estimated to have been in contact with about 130 people, who have been placed in quarantine.
According to the school principal Tapio Lahtero, the school mapped the boy's contacts last week and decided that students from classes 6A, 6B, 6C and 4B were exposed to the disease and should be placed in quarantine in their homes.
"The quarantine should end around 11 March," Lahtero added.
Third case, an adult woman
The third person affected by the novel coronavirus (or koronavirus, as spelled in Finland) is "an adult woman" according to the authorities. 15 people have been identified in her closed circle, they have all been reached and quarantined.
The Helsinki University Hospital (HUS), the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL, in its Finnish acronym) and municipalities are now examining people potentially exposed to the virus and to the cases diagnosed.
Asko Järvinen, chief of infectious diseases in Helsinki Hospital District, says that more cases are likely to arise in the near future.
"We hope that those quarantined stay at home, take care of their hygiene, diligently wash their hands, use their own towel and be in contact with health care if symptoms occur," Järvinen added.
