20.01.2022

Soite’s coro­n­avirus task group informs on the 20th of Jan­u­ary 2021

Soite’s coro­n­avirus task group gath­ered on Thurs­day Jan­u­ary 20th 2022 to eval­u­ate the region­al sit­u­a­tion­al picture.

The cur­rent sit­u­a­tion of infection

The inci­dence of coro­n­avirus con­tin­ues to increase quick­ly in Soite’s area. The inci­dence of infec­tions dur­ing 14 days is cur­rent­ly 996/100,000 res­i­dents in the entire Soite area. Three COVID-19 patients are cur­rent­ly being treat­ed at Cen­tral Ostro­both­nia cen­tral hospital.

There have been changes in the Soite area’s coro­n­avirus infec­tion track­ing as well as in the dura­tion of iso­la­tion and quar­an­tine and we informed in more detail about these yes­ter­day in the mes­sage pub­lished Jan­u­ary 19th 2022. Infec­tion track­ing will now be con­cen­trat­ed to map­ping infec­tions con­firmed in the social and health care units and med­ical care insti­tu­tions. The dura­tion of iso­la­tion and quar­an­tine is now 5 days regard­less of vac­ci­na­tion pro­tec­tion. The five days will be count­ed from the day the per­son was tested.

Home test­ing is rec­om­mend­ed as the pri­ma­ry method in order to con­firm a coro­n­avirus infec­tion.  Home tests are rec­om­mend­ed for any­one who has symp­toms of a res­pi­ra­to­ry infec­tion, such as a fever, a run­ny nose or a cough. We rec­om­mend repeat­ing the home test again after a few days if the symp­toms of res­pi­ra­to­ry infec­tion per­sist. Addi­tion­al infor­ma­tion about coro­n­avirus home tests can be found on the Finnish Insti­tute for Health and Welfare’s website

A pos­i­tive home test result for an adult has to be con­firmed with­in the health care ser­vices, if:

• the symptoms are serious
• the person belongs to a risk group
• the person is pregnant
• the person works within the social and health care services
• the person needs a sickness certificate for sickness allowance on account of an infectious disease for themselves or a family member or a result for a coronavirus passport.

A per­son who has test­ed pos­i­tive in Soite will receive a text mes­sage with instruc­tions for iso­la­tion and home treat­ment. Read the instruc­tions care­ful­ly. Per­sons aged 60 and old­er will still be con­tact­ed by phone if the test result is positive.

Cur­rent instruc­tions are found on Soite’s coro­n­avirus website:

• Instructions for When you Suspect a Coronavirus Infection
• Treating a Coronavirus Infection at Home
• Isolation and quarantine instructions for persons who are infected with or have been exposed to COVID-19

Addi­tion­al­ly, a new page for Fre­quent­ly Asked Ques­tions (cur­rent­ly avail­able in Finnish and Swedish) with addi­tion­al infor­ma­tion about among oth­er things iso­la­tion and quar­an­tine has been pub­lished on Soite’s coro­n­avirus web­site. (An Eng­lish trans­la­tion is on the way).

To pre­vent infec­tions it is still impor­tant to:

• Stay at home and take a home test if you have symptoms of a respiratory infection.
• Maintain good hand hygiene: Wash your hands or use hand sanitizer frequently.
• Avoid social gatherings and follow regional regulations and recommendations: https://korona.soite.fi/en/recommendations/
• Use protective face masks. Link: regional face mask recommendation
• The most important and effective way to prevent coronavirus infections, and especially serious forms of the disease, is to take a coronavirus vaccine.

Vac­ci­na­tions

Coro­n­avirus vac­ci­na­tions are pro­gress­ing well with­in Soite’s area and a record amount of vac­ci­na­tions are being giv­en at the vac­ci­na­tion sites. 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.

Coro­n­avirus vac­ci­na­tions are now 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 (1 and 2) and who are at least 18 years or older if at least 3 months have passed since they received the second dose.
• A third vaccine dose is given to everyone aged 18 to 59 years if at least 4 months have passed since they received the second dose.
• A third dose is also given to persons aged 12 and older who have a severe immunodeficiency, if at least 2 months have passed since the third vaccination.
• 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 will be arranged by appointment at Soite’s vaccination centrals. You can book an appointment via Soite’s online Omahoito service: https://soite.terveytesi.fi/citizenportal/#/login More appointments will be opened as soon as possible. In addition, we arrange a walk-in vaccination day without appointment booking at Soite’s children’s hospital (lastensairaala) for children aged 5 to 11 on Saturday 22nd of January from 10 am to 3 pm. For5-11-year-olds, both parents need to consent to the vaccination before the child can receive the vaccine. Link to the consent form (available in Finnish and Swedish).

Coro­n­avirus vac­ci­na­tions are now main­ly done dur­ing appoint­ment-free walk-in vac­ci­na­tion days instead of dur­ing appoint­ments. On vac­ci­na­tion days with­out appoint­ment book­ing, you can come to get your 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/

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 cen­tre (page is in Finnish)

You can fol­low how the vac­ci­na­tions progress in the area with the help of Soite’s coro­na vac­ci­na­tion indi­ca­tor, which is updat­ed on Mon­day afternoons.

Why should I take the coro­n­avirus vaccine?

1. Coronavirus vaccines give effective protection against serious forms of COVID-19.
2. 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.
3. By taking the vaccine, you can protect not only yourself but also others. The coronavirus vaccination significantly reduces the secretion of the virus and its spreading from one person to another.
4. The risks associated with the vaccine are significantly smaller than those associated with coronavirus infection. Link: Information about the coronavirus vaccination
5. With vaccinations, we can return to a more normal life and the need for restrictions is reduced. Everyone who decides to take the vaccine makes a difference.