Finland reports 3 new deaths and exceeds 3,000 infections
On Monday, the number of Covid-19 infections reported by Finnish health authorities exceeded the 3,000 mark.
According the the figures released by the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), to date, 3,064 laboratory-confirmed cases of coronavirus (koronavirus, in Finnish) have been found in the country.
That is 90 more than on Sunday.
59 deaths
The Helsinki-Uusimaa hospital region (HUS) also reported on Monday 3 new deaths, bringing the total number of fatalities to 59.
However, the actual figures are likely to be higher, as the usual delay in collecting statistics adds to the fact that Friday and Monday have been national holidays in Finland and that the percentage of tests carried out by the laboratories remains low.
Helsinki-Uusimaa remains the epicenter and region hardest hit by the epidemic. According to official figures, 1,924 cases of Covid-19 have been found in the capital metropolitan area. Of them, 1,075 in Helsinki.
66% of deaths in Helsinki region
So far, the vast majority of the deaths (39 or 66%) occurred in the hospital area of Helsinki-Uusimaa (HYKS).
Another region with a large number of fatalities is North Savo (KYS), which has Kuopio as the main city. So far, 16 people have died in this area, where few people live compared to other major cities.
For example, so far only 1 death has occurred in Tampere (TAYS area) and 2 in Turku (TYKS). The explanation for the high number of deaths in Kuopio is that the virus has affected there nursing homes, where people most at risk live.
INTENSIVE CARE
On Monday, the official number of patients hospitalized due to coronavirus was 230. And the number of people admitted to intensive care units was 74.
In relation to the Finnish population (5,526,774), the average incidence rate of cases is 55 per 100,000 inhabitants.
But in the Helsinki-Uusimaa region, where most of the infections this rate is more than double the country average: 114.1 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
According to THL, to date, Finnish laboratories have taken samples from approximately 46,000 people.