Finnish health authorities reported Wednesday 238 new coronavirus infections and 2 more deaths in the Helsinki area.
With this increase, the total number of cases diagnosed in Finland since the start of the pandemic rises to 18,345.
To date, the Nordic country has also reported 365 deaths associated with the Covid-19 disease, most of them (291) in the Helsinki University hospital catchment area.
According to THL, 49% of the fatalities are men and 51% are women. The vast majority of them (over 95%) had one or more previous long-term illnesses.
The average age of the deceased is 84. The coronavirus epidemic has not increased overall mortality in Finland, THL says. Deaths among working-age people are very rare and no deaths in children and adolescents have been reported so far.
Source: THL
Less patients in hospitals
On Wednesday there was a significant reduction in the number of people hospitalized due to the Covid-19 disease, which fell from 86 to 73.
The number of people admitted in intensive care units, in turn, increased by 1 to 14.
The country's incidence of cases is also increasing. According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, at the time of writing this article the number was 53.4 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the past two weeks.
However, the situation is very different depending on the region. In the area of the capital city and its surroundings (Helsinki-Uusimaa), the most populated area of the country and the epicenter of the epidemic, the incidence is almost double, 95.4 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the preceding 14 days, according to THL.
The largest number of new cases have been recorded in the hospital districts of Helsinki and Uusimaa, Southwest Finland (Turku), North Ostrobothnia (Oulu) and Pirkanmaa (Tampere).
