On Tuesday 29 December, Finland's health authorities reported 4 more deaths associated with the Covid-19 disease.
These fatalities bring the total death toll in Finland to 550 since the pandemic started, according to the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL). Most of the deaths occurred in the capital region, the epicenter of the epidemic and the worst hit area.
THL also reported 283 new infections detected in the past 24 hours. So far, the total number of diagnosed cases in the Nordic country amounts to 35,420.
The number of people hospitalized due to the Covid-19 disease was 221 on Tuesday. Of them, 42 were admitted to intensive care units.
Incidence decreasing
The country's incidence of new cases continues to decrease slightly. According to THL, at the time of writing this article it was 71.8 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the past two weeks for the whole country.
However, the situation varies depending on the region.
In the Helsinki-Uusimaa area, the most populated part of the country, the incidence for the preceding 14 days was 128.3 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants and in Southwest Finland (Turku and surroundings) it was 143.7.
In contrast, in the Lapland hospital district the incidence is much lower, 20.5 cases per 100,000 residents.
Currently, the lowest incidence in Finland is in the Eastern Savonia hospital district (Itä Savo), whose main city is Savonlinna, where only 5 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants have been diagnosed in the past 2-week period.
