NordenBladet — The epidemiological situation has remained stable in Finland in the past few weeks. The number of new COVID-19 cases took a sharp downward turn in late March, which levelled out in late April. Since then the number of new cases has remained stable.The epidemic is developing in two directions. More social contacts and the more transmissible virus variants may increase the number of infections. At the same time, the progress in the vaccine rollout and seasonality drive the number of cases down. This explains why the number of weekly infections remains stable.More social contacts may result in regional clustersThe coronavirus situation is very different across the country. Southern and southwestern Finland have the highest numbers of new cases. However, the situation has improved considerably in the Hospital District of Southwest Finland compared to the previous week. Vaccination progress and seasonality help control the epidemicIn Finland, more than 90 per cent of people aged 70 or older and more than 50 per cent of people aged over 16 have received their first vaccine dose. It is estimated that all those aged 16 or over who wish to be vaccinated will have received their first dose by the end of July.Monitoring coronavirus (in Finnish and Swedish)The COVID-19 epidemic: regional situation, recommendations and restrictionsCoronavirus 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)Effects of the COVID-19 epidemic on wellbeing, services and the economy, in FinnishProgress with the rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations, in Finnish and SwedishGuidelines for the controlled dismantling of restrictions and recommendations put in place due to the COVID-19 epidemic: Government memorandum 20 April 2021 (Prime Minister’s Office) in Finnish
Source: Valtioneuvosto.fi