27.04.2022

The num­ber of coro­n­avirus infec­tions is decreas­ing in Soite’s area – the region­al rec­om­men­da­tion on face masks ceas­es to be in effect

The Cen­tral Ostro­both­nia region­al COVID-19 group of author­i­ties had a meet­ing on Wednes­day 27th of April 2022 in order to assess the region­al sit­u­a­tion­al pic­ture and rec­om­men­da­tions. There is still a large num­ber of coro­n­avirus infec­tions in Soite’s area, but a clear decrease can be detect­ed. The gen­er­al, region­al rec­om­men­da­tion on face masks ceas­es to be in effect, but the group of author­i­ties still rec­om­mends remote work with a hybrid model. 

The inci­dence of coro­n­avirus has decreased in the last weeks in Soite’s area. 1,100 coro­n­avirus cas­es have been con­firmed in Soite’s area in the past 14 days and the inci­dence is cur­rent­ly 1,446/100 000 cit­i­zens in the area. All infec­tions do not, how­ev­er, come to the knowl­edge of Soite’s health care pro­fes­sion­als, as home test­ing is rec­om­mend­ed as the pri­ma­ry test­ing method. Few­er peo­ple seek out coro­n­avirus test­ing now than before in Soite’s area and at the moment, about a thou­sand tests are tak­en in Soite per week. Last week, 49% of the coro­n­avirus tests were positive.

At the moment, 16 patients with COVID-19 are cared for at Cen­tral Ostro­both­nia Cen­tral Hos­pi­tal. The need of spe­cialised med­ical care because of COVID-19 has, how­ev­er, decreased, but the need of care on pri­ma­ry health care wards has not yet diminished.

The region­al COVID-19 group of author­i­ties decid­ed to light­en the region­al rec­om­men­da­tion on face masks. As of now, the rec­om­men­da­tion on face masks by the Finnish Insti­tute for Health and Wel­fare is fol­lowed in the area.

It is recom­m­mend­ed that you con­tin­ue to use masks in indoor pub­lic spaces and on pub­lic trans­port if:

• you seek treatment or a test because of suspected infection with coronavirus
• you have symptoms of a respiratory infection, but you need to move outside your home
• you know that you have been exposed to the coronavirus, for example, if someone in your family has been diagnosed with an infection, but you are not able to avoid close contacts outside your home.
• you visit a social or health care unit
• you belong to a risk group and are in a premises where close contact cannot be avoided

The wide rec­om­men­da­tion on face masks is still in effect in Soite’s units, i.e. the per­son­nel in social and health care uses a face mask in the workplace.

As the flu virus is also present in the area, the group of author­i­ties decid­ed to con­tin­ue to rec­om­mend remote work with a hybrid mod­el if it is pos­si­ble for the employ­er to arrange this.

All the region­al reg­u­la­tions and rec­om­men­da­tions regard­ing the coro­n­avirus epi­dem­ic with­in Soite’s area are list­ed on Soite’s coro­na web­site.

The meth­ods list­ed below help to pre­vent the spread of infections:

• Take the coronavirus vaccines. They protect you against the severe forms of the disease.
• If you become ill, stay at home until you are healthy. If needed, take a home test. More information on Soite’s coronavirus website: Do this if you suspect a coronavirus infection.
• Remember the hygiene: hands, mask, safe distances and ventilation.

We strong­ly rec­om­mend get­ting a full vac­ci­na­tion series. It is sig­nif­i­cant­ly safer to encounter the coro­n­avirus if you are vac­ci­nat­ed, as the vac­cines give effi­cient pro­tec­tion against seri­ous forms of COVID-19. Vac­ci­na­tions are now main­ly giv­en on walk-in vac­ci­na­tion days with­out appoint­ment book­ing, which means you can come to a coro­n­avirus vac­ci­na­tion when it suits you best. More infor­ma­tion and the sched­ule for vac­ci­na­tions can be found on Soite’s coro­n­avirus web­site: https://korona.soite.fi/en/the-coronavirus-vaccines/

From now on, the region­al COVID-19 group of author­i­ties has a meet­ing when need­ed in order to assess the region­al coro­n­avirus sit­u­a­tion and rec­om­men­da­tions. It has its next meet­ing on Wednes­day 1st of June 2022. The group of author­i­ties gath­ers for a meet­ing if the region­al coro­n­avirus sit­u­a­tion changes. The group of author­i­ties con­sists of experts from the Finnish Insti­tute for Health and Wel­fare THL, the Region­al State Admin­is­tra­tive Agency, the Cen­tre for Eco­nom­ic Devel­op­ment, Trans­port and the Envi­ron­ment as well as Soite.