11.08.2021

Soite’s area moves into the accel­er­a­tion phase of the coro­n­avirus epidemic

The region­al COVID-19 author­i­ty task group of Cen­tral Ostro­both­nia met on Wednes­day 11th of August 2021 to assess the region­al sit­u­a­tion and rec­om­men­da­tions regard­ing the coro­n­avirus epi­dem­ic. The author­i­ty group out­lined that the Soite area moves into the accel­er­a­tion phase of the coro­n­avirus epi­dem­ic. The author­i­ty group spec­i­fied the region­al rec­om­men­da­tions regard­ing remote work and the face mask rec­om­men­da­tion. The author­i­ties also once more remind every­one of the impor­tance of vac­ci­na­tions to curb the epidemic.

The coro­n­avirus sit­u­a­tion in the Soite area has dete­ri­o­rat­ed rapid­ly over the past week. In the last 14 days, a total of 38 coro­n­avirus infec­tions have been diag­nosed in the Soite area and the region­al inci­dence rate over 14 days is 49/100,000 inhab­i­tants. 1.5% of the coro­n­avirus tests are pos­i­tive. 75% of the infec­tion chains have been traced. Last week, about 140 peo­ple were quar­an­tined in the Soite area. There are cur­rent­ly no patients with coro­n­avirus infec­tions being treat­ed at the Cen­tral Ostro­both­nia Cen­tral Hospital.

By deci­sion of the author­i­ty group, the sit­u­a­tion in the Soite area will be clas­si­fied as being in the accel­er­a­tion phase of the coro­n­avirus epi­dem­ic. No rec­om­men­da­tions regard­ing social gath­er­ings have been set, but the fol­low­ing clar­i­fi­ca­tions are added to the region­al recommendations:

• the face mask recommendation is updated with a recommendation to use a protective face mask also when outdoors if it is not possible to maintain safety distances
• a regionalrecommendation to work remotely from home enters into force until 30^th of September 2021

All region­al reg­u­la­tions and rec­om­men­da­tions are list­ed on Soite’s coro­n­avirus web site: https://korona.soite.fi/en/recommendations/

Instruc­tions specif­i­cal­ly out­lined for event orga­niz­ers can also be found on Soite’s coro­n­avirus web­site. For events with more than 50 par­tic­i­pants, the orga­niz­er must draw up a writ­ten plan regard­ing how they intend to pre­vent coro­n­avirus infec­tions. For events with more than 500 par­tic­i­pants, the orga­niz­er must sub­mit their plan to Soite’s infec­tious dis­eases team two weeks in advance. More infor­ma­tion: https://korona.soite.fi/en/instructions-to-event-organizers/

In order to secure a more nor­mal dai­ly life as the sum­mer hol­i­days end, the author­i­ty task group encour­ages work­ing-age peo­ple to seek out coro­n­avirus vac­ci­na­tion if they have not been vac­ci­nat­ed yet. The coro­n­avirus epi­dem­ic may spread at work­places if the vac­ci­na­tion cov­er­age is not high enough. Coro­n­avirus vac­cines give effec­tive pro­tec­tion against the more seri­ous forms of COVID-19. The vac­cines also pro­tect against the long-term effects of COVID-19, the so-called long COVID, which may cause pro­longed tired­ness, short­ness of breath, cough and joint and chest pain. A coro­n­avirus vac­ci­na­tion sig­nif­i­cant­ly reduces the secre­tion of the virus and its spread­ing from one per­son to anoth­er – the vac­ci­na­tion pro­tects both you and your loved ones. Vac­ci­na­tion is asso­ci­at­ed with sig­nif­i­cant­ly low­er risks than a coro­n­avirus infec­tion. Please also remem­ber to take the sec­ond dose of the vac­cine at the appoint­ment sched­uled for you.

Coro­n­avirus vac­ci­na­tions of all res­i­dents aged 12 and old­er are under way in the Soite area. More infor­ma­tion about the coro­n­avirus vac­ci­na­tions: https://korona.soite.fi/en/the-coronavirus-vaccines/

The region­al COVID-19 author­i­ty task group will hold its next meet­ing on Wednes­day, 18^th of August 2021, to assess the region­al coro­n­avirus sit­u­a­tion and rec­om­men­da­tions. If there are changes in the region­al coro­n­avirus sit­u­a­tion, the author­i­ty task group will con­vene if nec­es­sary. The author­i­ty group con­sists of experts from the Finnish Insti­tute for Health and Wel­fare (THL), the Region­al State Admin­is­tra­tive Agency (AVI), Cen­tre for Eco­nom­ic Devel­op­ment, Trans­port and the Envi­ron­ment (ELY) and Soite.

Today’s coro­n­avirus situation

Six new coro­n­avirus infec­tions have been con­firmed in Soite’s area. The chains of infec­tion are being inves­ti­gat­ed and the per­sons who have been exposed are being con­tact traced.

The list on pos­si­ble expo­sure sites has been updat­ed with the fol­low­ing information:

• August 6th from 10 am to 10.15 am K-Market Lampintori
• August 8th from 4 pm to 5 pm Prisma, Kokkola

Addi­tions at 3:51 pm:

• August 6th at 7 pm - 10 pm K-Supermarket, Rautatienkatu, Kokkola
• August 7th at 5 pm -10 pm K-Supermarket, Rautatienkatu, Kokkola
• August 7th at 00 am - 05 am Kebabish Indian Masala, Kokkola
• August 7th at 00 am - 05 am Kebabish Indian Masala, Kokkola
• August 8th at 4 pm - 5 pm Lestijärven Saluuna
• August 9th at 12.45 pm - 1.00 pm Nordlab's laboratory at the central hospital, Kokkola

We ask those who have vis­it­ed a pos­si­ble expo­sure site to observe their symp­toms and to seek out coro­n­avirus test­ing with­out delay even if they only have mild symp­toms. If you have vis­it­ed a pos­si­ble expo­sure site but do not have any symp­toms, you do not need to con­tact Soite by phone. It is enough that you fol­low the coro­n­avirus instruc­tions i.e. reduce the num­ber of close con­tacts as much as pos­si­ble, avoid unnec­es­sary social gath­er­ings, are care­ful to use a pro­tec­tive mask and main­tain a safe­ty dis­tance of at least 2 meters and main­tain good hand hygiene. If you get even mild symp­toms, book an appoint­ment for coro­n­avirus test­ing. Please seek out coro­n­avirus test­ing even if you have already been vac­ci­nat­ed against the coronavirus

You can eas­i­ly book an appoint­ment for coro­n­avirus test­ing through the Omaolo ser­vice online or via Soite’s Coro­n­avirus Helpline 06 828 7499 / via the children’s hos­pi­tal, phone 06 826 4444.