Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare
Current COVID-19 situation in Finland: number of new cases remains high while need for hospital care is decreasing

The number of new COVID-19 cases has remained at the same level as the week before. Finland has succeeded in curbing the epidemic in many regions. Despite this, the virus has spread throughout the country, and new cases have been reported in large numbers in many hospital districts.

So far there is no clear evidence that the virus variants would have started to spread through the population in Finland, but the risk of them spreading is considerable. The need for hospital care has, however, been decreasing for several weeks now. 

Between 1 and 7 February, over 2,500 new cases were reported to the communicable diseases register, showing a decrease of nearly 200 cases from the previous week. The incidence of new cases was 45 per 100,000 inhabitants, while in the previous week it was 49 per 100,000 inhabitants.

The total number of new cases in the last two-week period (25 January–7 February) was slightly more than 5,200, which was over 1,100 cases more than in the preceding two-week period. The incidence of new cases was 94 per 100,000 inhabitants, while in the preceding two-week period it was 74 per 100,000 inhabitants.

Currently, the estimated basic reproduction number is 0.95–1.1, with a 90 per cent probability.

The incidence and number of COVID-19 cases are still very high in many European countries and Finland’s neighbouring areas. 

A number of different virus variants or virus strains have been detected around the world. Finland is trying to stop the spread of these variants to the country by intensifying preventive measures at the borders and introducing restrictions and recommendations, for example. Finland is also closely monitoring the impact of the new virus variants on the development of the epidemic.  So far, a total of 232 cases of the new variants have been confirmed in the country. 

Most of the new cases reported among young adults

In Finland as a whole, the source of infection was traced in over 60% of all new cases. Currently, most of the new cases are reported among working-age adults, and more specifically, among young adults. Nearly one fourth of all new cases were reported among people aged 20–29.
The percentage of people over 60 years of age of those infected has decreased slightly. Between 1 and 7 February, people aged over 60 accounted for about 8% of those infected, whereas between 18–31 January, they accounted for 11% of those infected.

Slightly over 11,000 people were quarantined between 1 and 7 February, which is about 2,500 people less than in the previous week. Over one fourth of all new cases were reported among people already in quarantine.

During the period of  1–7 February, the majority of the new cases were of domestic origin. Cases where the virus was contracted abroad accounted for 4% of all new cases, and the further infections resulting from them accounted for less than one 1% of all cases. 

Decrease in number of people requiring hospital care

On 10 February, a total of 118 patients were receiving hospital care due to the COVID-19 disease. Of them, a total of 23 were inpatients in primary healthcare, 79 inpatients in specialised healthcare and 16 inpatients in intensive care. 

On 10 February 2021, the total number of deaths related to the disease was 706.

The monitoring report on the epidemic published today and the previous reports are available on the website of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. 

• Monitoring coronavirus (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, in Finnish and Swedish)
• The COVID-19 epidemic: regional situation, recommendations and restrictions (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare)
• Coronavirus in numbers (Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa)
• Action plan for implementing the hybrid strategy to curb the COVID-19 epidemic in January–May 2021 (Publications of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health 2021:1)
• Progress with the rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare), in Finnish and Swedish

Inquiries:

Mika Salminen, Director, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, [email protected] (development of the epidemic) 
Taneli Puumalainen, Chief Physician, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, [email protected] (development of the epidemic)
Kari Auranen, Senior Researcher, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, [email protected] (projection models) 
Liisa-Maria Voipio-Pulkki, Strategic Director, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, [email protected] (situational picture and modelling group) 
Pasi Pohjola, Director, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, [email protected] (situational picture and modelling group)