Two more coronavirus deaths in Finnish hospitals

Deaths from the coronavirus epidemic (koronavirus in Finnish) continue to rise in Finland. On Thursday, the country recorded its fourth and fifth fatalities.

The first decease occurred in the Paijat-Häme hospital district, which is the health area around the city of Lahti.

The Paijat-Hame Hospital District reported this death shortly after noon. According to the health authority of this province, the victim was an "elderly person".

Around half an hour later, the Helsinki-Uusimaa hospital district (HUS) also said in a press release that another "elderly person" died on Wednesday in their facilities.

As usual in Finland since the Covid-19 outbreak, health authorities refuse to disclose essential information for monitoring the progress of the epidemic, such as the age and gender of the deceased people.

Protecting people's privacy is the excuse given, although other European countries are not hiding these data.

"In order to protect privacy, no further information is given on the death," is the recurring phrase used every time there is a victim.

People in intensive care

The Päijät-Häme health authority reported that currently they have 4 people hospitalized due to coronavirus in their facilities, 2 of them in intensive care.

HUS also reported in its website that they are currently preparing to "more than double" their intensive care capacity and training more professionals following instructions of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health in order to respond to the spread of the virus.

-"We are preparing for the worst, we are exploring all opportunities to further increase our capacity," says Markku Mäkijärvi, Vice President of HUS.

Other three people previously died in Finland due to Covid-19 infection, two of them in Helsinki (HUS) and one in Hämmeenlinna (Kanta-Häme hospital district).

To date, 5 people died from coronavirus in Finland.