Finland reports 8 new coronavirus deaths and 115 infections

On Wednesday 22 April, the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) reported 115 more coronavirus (koronavirus, in Finnish) infections. With them, the total number of laboratory-diagnosed cases rose to 4,129.

The health agency also reported 8 new deaths caused by the disease, bringing the total number of Covid-19 deaths in Finland to 149.

However, these data do not reflect the whole extent of the Finnish tragedy. The overall number of fatalities rose significantly on Tuesday (+43) 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.

This opens the possibility that the figures could increase much more when the rest of the country's hospital districts inform also on the deaths in their homes for the elderly. Also there may be lots of unreported coronavirus infections in Finland, since people with mild symptoms are not generally tested.

In Finland the percentage of tests carried out by the laboratories remains low and limited to risk groups, mainly health care workers.

The age of the dead

The health agency has disclosed a few details regarding the age of 113 of the dead. There are 5 people dead under the age of 60; other 8 people aged 60-69; there are 24 people aged 70-79; there are 47 people aged 80-89 and 29 people over the age of 90.

57% of the dead are men and 43% are women. The median age of the dead is 84 years.

Source: THL.

New deaths all in Helsinki

Helsinki-Uusimaa remains the epicenter and region hardest hit by the epidemic. According to official figures, to date, 2,723 cases of Covid-19 have been found in the capital metropolitan area. Of them, 1,523 in the city of Helsinki. 

The 8 deaths reported on Wednesday occurred in the Helsinki metropolitan area (HYKS), where so far the vast majority of the deaths (118) have been recorded. Helsinki-Uusimaa is also the region with the highest incidence of infections: 161.5 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 147.6 infections per 100,000 inhabitants.

63 in intensive care units

On Wednesday, the official number of patients hospitalized due to coronavirus was 199. And the number of people admitted to intensive care units was 63.

In relation to the total Finnish population (5,543,233), the average incidence rate is 74 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

According to a preliminary estimate by THL, there are at least 2,000 people who may have already recovered from the disease.

To date, Finnish laboratories have taken samples from approximately 68,500 people.