Four out of five coronavirus deaths occur in Helsinki area
On Sunday 3 May, the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) reported 78 more coronavirus (koronavirus, in Finnish) infections. With them, the total number of laboratory-diagnosed cases rose to 5,254.
The health agency also reported 10 more deaths associated with the disease, bringing the total number of Covid-19 fatalities in Finland to 230.
8 deaths in Helsinki
The region of Helsinki-Uusimaa remains the epicenter and hardest hit area by the epidemic. According to official figures, to date, 3,662 cases of Covid-19 have been found in the capital metropolitan area. Of them, 1,975 in the city of Helsinki.
If we talk about deaths, to date the Helsinki University Hospital catchment area (HYKS) reported 187 fatalities (81.3% of the total). This means four out of every five deaths caused by coronavirus have occurred in the Helsinki hospital area.
Of the ten deaths reported on Sunday, eight occurred in the Helsinki area, one in the Oulu hospital area and one in the Turku area.
Source: THL.
Helsinki-Uusimaa is also the region with the highest incidence of infections: there are already 217.2 diagnosed cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
For the whole country, the average incidence rate is less than half that in Helsinki: 95 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
The ages of the dead
The health agency has disclosed a few details regarding 180 the dead. The majority of the dead people (over 90%) had one or more chronic diseases. The most common of them were heart diseases and diabetes.
Of all the (220) deceased, 20% have been in specialized hospital care, 29% in a primary healthcare unit, 50% in a welfare unit and 1% at home or elsewhere.
In intensive care units
On Sunday, the official number of patients hospitalized due to coronavirus was 185. And the number of people in intensive care units was 49.
According to a preliminary estimate by THL, there are at least 3,000 people who may have already recovered from the disease.
To date, Finnish laboratories have taken samples from approximately 102,300 people.