Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare
Number of new coronavirus infections in Finland is still relatively small – daily testing volumes have increased
The number of new coronavirus infections remains relatively small at national level, although the number and incidence of cases have risen compared to the low figures at the beginning of July.
During the latest period (10–16 August), a total of 131 new cases were reported to the communicable diseases register. In the previous week (3–9 August), the number of reported cases was 168.
Currently, the estimated basic reproduction number is 1.30–1.50, with a 90 per cent probability.
The incidence of new cases during the period of 10–16 August was 2.4 per 100,000 inhabitants. The incidence of new cases in the two-week period (3–16 August) was 5.4 per 100,000 inhabitants and in the preceding two-week period (20 July–2 August) it was 2.5 per 100,000 inhabitants.
Cases of both domestic still and foreign origin have been reported in Finland. Infections stem from several countries. Some of the new cases are related to identified infection chains and clusters of cases that are being monitored, but the source of all infections is not known. The infection chains of all new cases are carefully tracked in order to prevent new infections as effectively as possible.
The situational picture and modelling group’s most recent and previous reports are available on the website of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL):
On 19 August 2020, the total number of cases in Finland was 7,805. There have been 334 deaths related to the disease. It is estimated that 7,100 people, i.e. over 90 per cent of all confirmed cases, have recovered from the disease.
On 19 August 2020, a total of seven patients were receiving hospital care due to the COVID-19 disease, but none were in intensive care. The number of hospitalised coronavirus patients has remained at a low level since the beginning of July.
During the most recent monitoring period, the epidemiological situation has remained stable in the majority of hospital districts. No new cases were reported in 10 hospital districts over the most recent seven-day follow-up period. The weekly incidence of cases fell or remained unchanged in most regions. The incidence also decreased in Helsinki, the Uusimaa region and Southwest Finland, where the number of infections has been the highest in recent weeks.
At present, the testing capacity of laboratories is still more than 14,000 samples per day. In the past two weeks (3–16 August), more and more coronavirus tests have been carried out, between 6,000 and 11,000 daily. At national level, the proportion of positive samples of those tested has remained low.
Inquiries:
Taneli Puumalainen, Chief Physician, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, firstname.lastname@thl.fi (epidemiological questions)
Kari Auranen, Professor, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, firstname.lastname@thl.fi (projection models)
Liisa-Maria Voipio-Pulkki, Strategic Director, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, firstname.lastname@stm.fi (situational picture and modelling group)