14.03.2022

Cur­rent coro­n­avirus infor­ma­tion in Soite’s area on the 14th of March 2022 – the num­ber of coro­n­avirus infec­tions is on an all-time high in Soite’s area

The cur­rent sit­u­a­tion of infection 

The num­ber of coro­n­avirus cas­es is still very high in Soite’s area. The need of hos­pi­tal care is also still great. Dur­ing last week (week 10), 1,069 new coro­n­avirus cas­es were con­firmed in Soite’s tests. This is the high­est num­ber that has been con­firmed by Soite in a week dur­ing the pan­dem­ic. Last week, 1,900 coro­n­avirus tests were tak­en. The share of pos­i­tive test results was 55%. Pos­i­tive results in home tests are not includ­ed in these num­bers, and the real num­ber is thus even higher. 

13 patients with COVID-19 are cur­rent­ly being treat­ed at Cen­tral Ostro­both­nia Cen­tral Hos­pi­tal. No patients with COVID-19 are cur­rent­ly treat­ed in inten­sive care. 

The risk of infec­tion is cur­rent­ly very high in Soite’s area and that is why we con­tin­ue to remind of the impor­tance of safe­ty mea­sures asso­ci­at­ed with the coro­n­avirus. In order to min­i­mize the risk of infec­tion, it is impor­tant to fol­low the coro­n­avirus hygiene rec­om­men­da­tions i.e. wash your hands, use a pro­tec­tive mask and main­tain a safe dis­tance.  We wish to remind every­one that a broad­er rec­om­men­da­tion on the use of face masks is in effect in Soite’s area. 

A rec­om­men­da­tion on remote work is also still in effect in Soite’s area. It is rec­om­mend­ed that employ­ers utilise a so called hybrid mod­el where some of the work is, if pos­si­ble, done remote­ly in turns, so that only a small group is present at the work­place at the same time. 

The key fig­ures in the sit­u­a­tion­al pic­ture have been updat­ed: 

• Infections last week: 1,069 (a week ago 823) 
• In hospital care: 13 patients with coronavirus 
• The number of coronavirus cases during the last 14 days: 1,892 (a week ago 1,611) 
• The incidence of infections during the last 14 days/100 000 citizens: 2,440 (a week ago 2,081) 
• Since the beginning of the pandemic, a total of 13 coronavirus-related deaths have occurred in the Central Ostrobothnia hospital district    
• The epidemic status of the coronavirus epidemic in Central Ostrobothnia: area with community transmission 

Home test­ing is rec­om­mend­ed as the pri­ma­ry method for con­firm­ing a coro­n­avirus infec­tion. Home tests are rec­om­mend­ed for every­one who have symp­toms of a res­pi­ra­to­ry infec­tion, such as fever, a head cold or a cough. We rec­om­mend repeat­ing the home test again after a few days if the symp­toms of res­pi­ra­to­ry infec­tion persist. 

If a coro­n­avirus test is pos­i­tive, you have to stay in home iso­la­tion. The dura­tion of iso­la­tion for a per­son who has become ill is 5 days start­ing from the day they were test­ed, regard­less of vac­ci­na­tion pro­tec­tion. The day of the test is day 0. Dur­ing home iso­la­tion, one must avoid all con­tact with per­sons out­side the home. 

One’s occu­pa­tion­al health or health cen­tre may write a cer­tifi­cate for a five-day sick-leave based on a pos­i­tive result in a home test and based on your con­tact. The act is in effect from Feb­ru­ary 28th through June 30th 2022. For more infor­ma­tion, please read the web­site of the Finnish Gov­ern­ment (in Finnish). 

If you get a pos­i­tive result in a home test and have no under­ly­ing dis­eases, have mild res­pi­ra­to­ry symp­toms and your gen­er­al con­di­tion is good, you do not usu­al­ly need to con­tact the health care ser­vices or to seek out coro­n­avirus test­ing in the health care services. 

A pos­i­tive result in a home test should be ver­i­fied in the health care ser­vices if one needs a med­ical cer­tifi­cate A for the employ­er for sick­ness allowance on account of an infec­tious dis­ease. Fol­low­ing a change in the Health Insur­ance Act, one must con­tact one’s occu­pa­tion­al health or one’s health cen­tre in order to get a med­ical cer­tifi­cate A. Soites Infec­tion Con­trol Unit no longer writes med­ical cer­tifi­cate A. 

Up-to-date instruc­tions can be found on Soite’s coro­n­avirus website: 

• Do this if you suspect a coronavirus infection 
• Treating a Coronavirus Infection at Home 
• Instructions for Persons Who Have Covid-19 

Vac­ci­na­tions 

It is espe­cial­ly impor­tant to take the coro­n­avirus vac­cine now, as the quick­ly spread­ing omi­cron vari­ant is present in the area, as the vac­cine pro­tects you from seri­ous forms of coro­n­avirus dis­ease in par­tic­u­lar. Please take the coro­n­avirus vac­cine as soon as pos­si­ble if you have not yet done so, or if you have not yet tak­en the boost­er vac­cine doses. 

Coro­n­avirus vac­ci­na­tions are giv­en as follows: 

• The vaccinations of the citizens are progressing with regards to all persons over the age of 5 who live in Soite’s area. The second dose can be given when at least six weeks have passed since the first vaccination.  
• A third vaccine dose is given to everyone over the age of 60 and to persons who belong to medical risk groups and are at least 18 years if at least 3 months have passed since they received the second dose.  
• A third vaccine dose is given to all persons aged 18 to 59 if at least 4 months have passed since they received the second dose.  
• 12-17-year old persons who belong to a risk group are given a third vaccine dose if at least six months has passed since the second dose. A third dose may also be given to other 12-17-year-old persons if this is necessary for other than medical reasons, for example because of travelling.  
• A third dose is also given to persons aged 12 and older who have a severe immunodeficiency, if at least two months have passed since the second dose. 
• A fourth dose is given to persons aged 12 and older who have a severe immunodeficiency, if at least 3 months have passed since the third vaccination. 
• Coronavirus vaccinations for children aged 5 to 11 are arranged by appointment at Soite’s vaccination centrals. Appointments are booked online via Soite’s Omahoito service: https://soite.terveytesi.fi. In order for a 5-11-year-old child to be vaccinated, consent is needed from both parents. 

Nat­u­ral­ly, first dos­es of the vac­cine are also still being dis­trib­uted and we encour­age you to seek out coro­n­avirus vac­ci­na­tion if you are com­plete­ly unvac­ci­nat­ed. The coro­n­avirus is not going away and it is very dif­fi­cult to avoid the ill­ness in the future. It is sig­nif­i­cant­ly safer to encounter the coro­n­avirus if you are vac­ci­nat­ed. 

Soite’s coro­na vac­ci­na­tion indi­ca­tor has now been updat­ed! In all, 90.5% of the cit­i­zens in Cen­tral Ostro­both­nia health care dis­trict over the age of 18 have now received their first vac­cine dose. 88.3% of all per­sons over the age of 18 have received their sec­ond vac­cine dose. 64.8% of all per­sons over the age of 18 have received their third vac­cine dose. 

Vac­ci­na­tions are main­ly giv­en on walk-in vac­ci­na­tion days with­out appoint­ment book­ing, which means you can come to a coro­n­avirus vac­ci­na­tion when it suits you best. 

Vac­ci­na­tion days with­out appoint­ment book­ing are orga­nized this week as follows: 

• 14th – 15th of March 9 am – 3.30 pm the vaccination central in Kokkola (Kaarlelankatu 7). Vaccines: Pfizer and Moderna. 
• 15th of March 3 pm – 6 pm Teerijärvi health station (Hörbyntie 8). Vaccine: Pfizer. 
• 16th of March 9 am – 7.30 pm the vaccination central in Perhonjokilaakso (Kirkkotanhua 1, Veteli). Vaccine: Pfizer. 
• 16th of March 9 am – 3.30 pm the vaccination central in Kokkola (Kaarlelankatu 7). Vaccines: Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax 
• 17th of March 8.30 am – 3.30 pm Kannus seurakuntakeskus (the parish centre) (Valtakatu 20). Vaccines: Pfizer and Moderna. 
• 17th of March 9 am – 3.30 pm the vaccination central in Kokkola (Kaarlelankatu 7). Vaccines: Pfizer and Moderna. 
• 17th of March 12 noon – 4.30 pm, Perho health care centre (Vanhainkodintie 20). Vaccine: Pfizer. 
• 18th of March 8.30 am – 3 pm Toholampi seurakuntakoti (parish house) (Lampintie 7). Vaccines: Pfizer and Moderna. 
• 18th of March 9 am – 7.30 pm the vaccination central in Kokkola (Kaarlelankatu 7). Vaccines: Pfizer and Moderna. 
• 19th of March 9 am – 3 pm the vaccination central in Kokkola (Kaarlelankatu 7). Vaccines: Pfizer and Moderna. 

Addi­tion­al infor­ma­tion and the timetable for the walk-in days can be found on Soite’s coro­n­avirus web­site: https://korona.soite.fi/en/the-coronavirus-vaccines/ 

An appoint­ment for a coro­n­avirus vac­ci­na­tion may still be booked online on https://soite.terveytesi.fi/ or by phone on the num­ber 06 828 7488. Phone hours Mon­day to Thurs­day from 9 am to 3 pm and Fri­day 9 am to 2 pm. You can also book an appoint­ment via your health care centre.