Oldest Finnish patient recovering from Covid-19 is over 80 years

Asko Järvinen, Chief Medical Officer of Infectious Diseases at Helsinki-Uusimaa hospital district (HUS), said hundreds of people have recovered from the disease caused by coronavirus (koronavirus, in Finnish).

"The oldest one is, as I know, over 80 years" said Järvinen talking to the newspaper Ilta Sanomat.

So far, a total of 1,446 confirmed coronavirus infections have been detected in Finland. and 17 people have died from the disease, most of them in the Helsinki region.

According to doctor Järvinen's analysis, in Finland coronavirus has been a disease of younger adults. This is because the virus has been imported from abroad. Järvinen pointed out, “For the older population, Covid-19 is still spreading or hopefully not spreading. After all, the goal is for older people to be isolated.”

The actual number of recoveries is not known, as only a small proportion of the patients have been hospitalized.

The number of infections is still on the rise and patients entering hospitals are more than those getting home.

The peak of the epidemic

Järvinen estimates that in Finland the peak of the epidemic will be seen in May or later. Still, light can already be seen at HUS. “Our ward has had the same number of patients today as it did the day before. From there, the patients leave,” said the chief doctor.

Järvinen also explained that patients can suffer this disease in very different ways. Symptoms can be very mild, there might be people completely asymptomatic or very severe cases which require hospitalization. Of them, a small percentage end up in intensive care units.

According to the chief physician, recovery from the coronavirus takes an average of seven days to two weeks.