Finland's health authority admits unreported deaths from coronavirus (koronavirus, in Finnish) for the first time. And it does so one day after the heads of the Helsinki Hospital District (HUS) called attention to dozens of unaccounted deaths that would have occurred in nursing homes in the capital metropolitan area.
On Saturday 18 April, the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL, in its Finnish acronym) reported at least 8 more deaths, bringing the total number of fatalities to 90. But the agency admits now, for the first time, that "the total number does not currently cover all out-of hospital-deaths."
On Friday 17 April, HUS chief medical director Markku Mäkijärvi and Helsinki hospital medical director Laura Pikkarainen said to their understanding the list of deaths included in THL's account lack dozens of cases. According to those experts, there could be dozens of more elderly deaths unreported because they have happened outside of hospitals.
Of the 8 new deaths reported on Saturday, 7 occurred in the Helsinki metropolitan area (HYKS), and 1 in Turku region (TKYS).
The health agency has disclosed a few details regarding the age of 70 of the reported dead. There are 4 people dead under the age of 60; other 4 people aged 60-69; there are 20 people aged 70-79; there are 30 people aged 80-89 and 12 people over the age of 90.
69% of the dead are men and 31% are women. The median age of the dead is 81 years.
Source: THL.
192 new infections
On Saturday 18 April, THL also reported 192 more coronavirus infections (koronavirus, in Finnish) in the whole country. With them, the total number of laboratory-diagnosed cases rose to 3,681.
However, the actual figures are likely to be higher, as 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.
Helsinki-Uusimaa remains the epicenter and region hardest hit by the epidemic. According to official figures, 2,370 cases of Covid-19 have been found in the capital metropolitan area. Of them, 1,346 in the city of Helsinki.
The Helsinki-Uusimaa region also remains the region with the highest incidence of infections: 140.6 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 114.4 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
In relation to the total Finnish population (5,543,233), the average incidence rate is 66 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
Olemme jälleen päivittäneet #koronavirus tilannekatsauksen (la 18.4. klo 13.35). Tällä hetkellä Suomessa on
— THL (@THLorg) April 18, 2020
🔶testattuja näytteitä n. 55 600
🔶varmistettuja tapauksia 3 681
🔶sairaalahoidossa 199
🔶heistä tehohoidossa 70
🔶menehtyneitä 90
Lue lisää ➡https://t.co/LhRKX8EJdu pic.twitter.com/pleLzEc7Zd
Intensive care
On Saturday , the official number of patients hospitalized due to coronavirus was 199. And the number of people admitted to intensive care units was 70.
According to a preliminary estimate by THL, there are at least 1,700 people who may have already recovered from the disease.
To date, Finnish laboratories have taken samples from approximately 55,600 people.
