CORONAVIRUS

The second largest Covid-19 focal point is in Länsi-Pohja region

Image: Google Maps.
Official statistics show more infected women than men in Finland. Read here the explanation of an expert.

Coronavirus (koronavirus, in Finnish) infections in the Länsi-Pohja (North West Finland) hospital district are the second highest in Finland in terms of population, after Uusimaa.

On Saturday there were 74.6 infections per hundred thousand inhabitants in the area and the number has increased.

There is a total of 46 infections in the Länsi-Pohja Hospital District. New infections come from long chains of infection and extensive exposures.

It has now been found that the quarantine rules have not been obeyed.

Jyri J. Taskila, Chief Physician of the West Ostrobothnia Hospital District talked to Yle and said, “This has really happened but fortunately they are mostly isolated cases. People have not obeyed quarantine rules. For example, they have not stayed at home and made sure that there are no social contacts during this time.”

The proximity of the Swedish border is also thought to be the cause of the infections, as there are more cases of Covid19 in Norrbotten than in Meri-Lapland region.

Taslika said, "We are monitoring this situation in Sweden all the time because we must inform the ministry if more infected people start to come from the Swedish side."

INFECTED WOMEN NUMBER INCREASE

On 12 April, Easter Sunday, the number of cases of infection detected in Finland was 2974 and 50.8% of them were women.

An interesting statistical change is that for the first time seen 7 April there were more infected women (50.5%) than men (49.5%).

Finland has significantly increased its testing capacity. However, still, not all patients with mild symptoms can be tested.

One possible explanation is that for a long time, the tests focused only on the most severe symptoms. The higher number of men during the first quarter can be partly explained by the fact that the symptoms are more severe in men.

Lasse Lehtonen, Professor of Health Law at the University of Helsinki sees clear reasons for the change. “The explanation may be that the nursing staff has been tested and 85-90% of them are women. It is also reflected in the statistics,” Lehtonen said to Iltalehti.