04.01.2022

Due to the wors­en­ing coro­n­avirus sit­u­a­tion, Soite’s infec­tion track­ing is chang­ing – infec­tion track­ing sends noti­fi­ca­tions via text mes­sages to infect­ed persons

In the Soite area, the infec­tion track­ing is under a heavy work­load due to the spread of the omi­cron vari­ant. There is cur­rent­ly a steep increase in the dai­ly num­ber of new cas­es. Until now, those who have test­ed pos­i­tive for coro­n­avirus in a lab­o­ra­to­ry test have been called by Soite. Now there are so many peo­ple who have test­ed pos­i­tive that they can no longer be called. From today onwards, a text mes­sage will be sent by the infec­tion track­ing to those infect­ed in the Soite area. The text mes­sage pro­vides short instruc­tions for what to do and instruc­tions for when to con­tact Soite. 

Infect­ed peo­ple should avoid close con­tact with oth­er peo­ple for at least 10 days. Those with mild symp­toms do not need to con­tact Soite’s infec­tion unit after this if they have had two asymp­to­matic days before the end of their isolation.

If your symp­toms are mild and you do not belong to a risk group, you can stay at home while sick. If you are infect­ed with coro­n­avirus and have risk fac­tors relat­ed to blood clot­ting, you should con­tact the infec­tious dis­ease nurse (phone 040 804 2781). You should also con­tact the infec­tious dis­ease nurse if you work with­in the social and health care ser­vices and have been at work dur­ing the 48 hours before your symp­toms begin.

The use of the Bud­dy­Care app for fol­low­ing the con­di­tion of per­sons in quar­an­tine will also be discontinued. 

When you get sick: 

• Avoid close contact with others. 
• When you have a confirmed coronavirus infection, stay at home for at least 10 days. If you still have symptoms on the 10th day call an infectious diseases nurse 040 804 2781
• Asymptomatic means that the fever is gone and other symptoms are clearly decreasing. If the only symptom is a change in sense of smell or taste, or a slight dry cough, there is no need to continue the isolation. 
• If you work in health care or care for the elderly, you must follow the instructions given by your employer. 
• If you live in an apartment building, do not use the common areas of the house when you are ill.
• When you are sick, rest and an adequate intake of liquids (2.5 litres/day) is important. Alcohol should be avoided. Fever and aches can be relieved with over-the-counter medication that can be bought at the pharmacy without a prescription. 
• Be mindful of good hand and coughing hygiene. 
• Observe your condition and if needed, call: 
  • Soite’s coronavirus helpline, phone 06 828 7499, open every day 8 am to 4 pm 
  • Outside of phone hours, please contact us as follows:
    • Adults, people over the age of 16 who are sick: Soite’s common emergency clinic, phone 116 117 
    • Persons under the age of 16 who are sick: Soite’s paediatric emergency clinic, phone 06 826 4444. Open around the clock 24/7. 

All home care instruc­tions, instruc­tions for iso­la­tion and treat­ment instruc­tions for those infect­ed can be found on Soite’s coro­n­avirus web­site: https://korona.soite.fi/en/treating-coronavirus-infection-at-home/ 

Vis­its at Soite’s units 

As the epi­dem­ic sit­u­a­tion wors­ens, we would like to remind every­one of the safe­ty guide­lines for vis­its. Unnec­es­sary vis­its at the cen­tral hos­pi­tal should be avoided. 

At the cen­tral hospital’s wards and at depart­ments of gen­er­al med­i­cine, vis­its dur­ing vis­it­ing hours are allowed in groups of max 2–3 peo­ple. Coro­n­avirus safe­ty must be observed.

Dur­ing vis­its to hos­pi­tal wards and res­i­den­tial units, you should fol­low the spe­cial guide­lines regard­ing these (in Finnish) (THL). Check the unit’s cur­rent restric­tions before visiting. 

Using home tests 

We also rec­om­mend that you make use of coro­n­avirus home tests before vis­it­ing friends and fam­i­ly. Cor­rect­ly per­formed anti­gen home tests are a good sup­ple­ment when test­ing for coro­n­avirus.  A pos­i­tive result from a home test should be con­firmed with a coro­n­avirus test per­formed by health care pro­fes­sion­als. Addi­tion­al infor­ma­tion about coro­n­avirus home tests can be found on the Finnish Insti­tute for Health and Welfare’s web­site 

Vac­ci­na­tions 

It is espe­cial­ly impor­tant to take the coro­n­avirus vac­cine now that 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. 

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

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/