Finland records 4 new coronavirus deaths in Helsinki and Oulu regions

On Sunday 26 April, the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) reported 101 more coronavirus (koronavirus, in Finnish) infections. With them, the total number of laboratory-diagnosed cases rose to 4,576.

The health agency also reported 4 new deaths caused by the disease, bringing the total number of Covid-19 deaths in Finland to 190.

However, these data do not reflect the whole extent of the Finnish tragedy. The overall number of fatalities rose significantly last week because the Helsinki-Uusimaa hospital district (HUS) also included in its report those deaths that have occurred in the nursing homes of the Helsinki Metropolitan area.

On Saturday, Finnish people learned about the dead of 10 people two weeks ago in a senior centre in Kontula (east Helsinki). Some reports have been published by Finnish media about the chaotic situation in some of the nursing homes of the capital area. Shortage of personnel, lack of protective equipment, nurses doing the laundry and cleaning are some of the problems denounced.

This opens the possibility that the figures could increase much more when the rest of the country's hospital districts also inform on the deaths in their homes for the elderly.

Last week Finland also raised significantly the number of tests carried out by the laboratories, but overall the sampling percentage remains low and limited to risk groups, mainly health care workers.

Previous illnesses

The health agency has disclosed a few details regarding the age of 140 of the dead. The majority of the dead people had one or more long-term illnesses. The most common of these have been heart disease and diabetes.

In the age groups 30-39, 40-49 and 50-59, there are less than 5 deaths in each, 9 in the 60-69 age group, 28 in the 70-79 age group, 67 in the 80-89 age group, and there are 31 people in their 90s.

51% of the dead are men and 49% are women.

The median age of the dead is 84 years, says THL.

Source: THL.

New deaths in Helsinki and Oulu

Helsinki-Uusimaa remains the epicenter and region hardest hit by the epidemic. According to official figures, to date, 3,096 cases of Covid-19 have been found in the capital metropolitan area. Of them, 1,715 in the city of Helsinki. 

Of the 4 deaths reported on Sunday, 2 occurred in the Helsinki metropolitan area (HYKS), where so far the vast majority of the deaths (155) have been recorded. The other 2 fatalities were registered in the Oulu hospital region (OYS).

Helsinki-Uusimaa is also the region with the highest incidence of infections: 183.6 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

The region with the second highest incidence of the virus is North West Finland (Länsi Pohja), at the Swedish border, which has 170.8 infections per 100,000 inhabitants.

62 in intensive care units

On Sunday, the official number of patients hospitalized due to coronavirus was 189. And the number of people admitted to intensive care units was 62, two more than in the previous day.

In relation to the total Finnish population (5,543,233), the average incidence rate is 83 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

According to a preliminary estimate by THL, there are at least 2,500 people who may have already recovered from the disease.

To date, Finnish laboratories have taken samples from approximately 80,300 people.