14.05.2021

Soite’s area remains at the coro­n­avirus accel­er­a­tion phase – ten new cases

Cen­tral Ostrobothnia’s region­al COVID-19 author­i­ty task group gath­ered on Fri­day May 14th 2021 to eval­u­ate the region­al sit­u­a­tion­al pic­ture as well as the region­al rec­om­men­da­tions. Soite’s area remains at the coro­n­avirus accel­er­a­tion phase. Ten new coro­n­avirus cas­es have been con­firmed in Soite’s area. 

Dur­ing this week (week 19), a total of 46 new coro­n­avirus infec­tions have been con­firmed in Soite’s area. The per­cent­age of pos­i­tive sam­ples is 2.2 % (of 2048 tests). The inci­dence of infec­tions dur­ing 14 days is 85/100,000 cit­i­zens. No patients are cur­rent­ly receiv­ing treat­ment for COVID-19 at the Cen­tral Hos­pi­tal. Cir­ca 400 peo­ple have been quarantined. 

Soite’s area con­tin­ues in the accel­er­a­tion phase, but is close to the com­mu­ni­ty trans­mis­sion phase. 

The cri­te­ria for the com­mu­ni­ty trans­mis­sion phase are met when it comes to the inci­dence of infec­tions in Soite’s area, but Soite’s area does not meet the oth­er cri­te­ria for the phase. About 50 per­cent of the coro­n­avirus cas­es can still be traced. The work to trace the infec­tions and quar­an­tine those who have been exposed is still done with­in a day of an infec­tion being con­firmed. The need for hos­pi­tal care has not increased, although the demand for it has increased. It should be not­ed that the need for hos­pi­tal care usu­al­ly does not occur until the sec­ond week of the infection. 

Region­al rec­om­men­da­tions regard­ing social gath­er­ings remain unchanged. In the Region­al State Admin­is­tra­tive Agency’s (AVI) new deci­sion, the max­i­mum num­ber of par­tic­i­pants in pub­lic events and pub­lic gath­er­ings is 10 peo­ple indoors and 20 peo­ple out­doors. Regard­ing pri­vate social gath­er­ings, it is rec­om­mend­ed that you adhere to the rec­om­men­da­tions issued by Cen­tral Ostrobothnia’s region­al COVID-19 author­i­ty task group, which like­wise state that the max­i­mum num­ber of par­tic­i­pants is 10 peo­ple indoors and 20 peo­ple out­doors. All cur­rent reg­u­la­tions and rec­om­men­da­tions regard­ing the coro­n­avirus epi­dem­ic with­in Soite’s area are list­ed on Soite’s coro­na web­site: https://korona.soite.fi/en/recommendations/ 

The region­al COVID-19 author­i­ty task group has its next meet­ing on Tues­day 18th of May 2021. 

The sit­u­a­tion today

Ten new coro­n­avirus cas­es have been con­firmed in Soite’s area. On Mon­day 10th of May, Soite sent six pos­i­tive coro­n­avirus sam­ples for analy­sis in order to find pos­si­ble coro­n­avirus muta­tions.  On Wednes­day 12th of May we informed that the sequenc­ing result of one sam­ple con­firmed that it was the Indi­an vari­ant of the virus. The results that have arrived today Fri­day 14th of May show that the oth­er five sam­ples are also of the Indi­an variant. 

The fol­low­ing places have been added to the list of pos­si­ble expo­sure sites: 

• Monday 10th of May 8.30 am bus journey Marinkainen - Kokkola 
• Monday 10th of May 2.45 pm to 3.15 pm H&M downstairs section 
• Monday 10th of May 9 am to 3 pm Mom’s Garden 
• Tuesday 11th of May 9 am to 1 pm Mom’s garden 
• Tuesday 11th of May 1.15 pm bus journey Kokkola - Kälviä 

The list of all pos­si­ble expo­sure sites can be found at Soite’s coro­na web­site: https://korona.soite.fi/en/corona-virus-info/ 

We ask those who have vis­it­ed pos­si­ble expo­sure sites to observe them­selves for any symp­toms and to book an appoint­ment for coro­n­avirus test­ing even if they only have mild symptoms. 

Please observe, how­ev­er, that even if you have vis­it­ed a poten­tial expo­sure site, you do not need to con­tact Soite by phone if you do not have any symp­toms. It is enough if you fol­low the coro­n­avirus rec­om­men­da­tions i.e. keep the num­ber of close con­tacts to a min­i­mum, avoid unnec­es­sary social gath­er­ings and be mind­ful of prop­er use of face masks, main­tain a safe­ty dis­tance of 2 meters and exer­cise good hand hygiene. 

Seek out coro­n­avirus test­ing ear­ly and even if you have only very mild symp­toms: 

• Online by filling out the corona symptom evaluation at the address: https://www.omaolo.fi/?lang=en 
• By calling Soite’s corona helpline: 06 828 7499 (open weekdays 8 am to 5 pm and weekends 8 am to 4 pm). Children (persons younger than 16 who are ill): Soite’s paediatric emergency clinic 06 826 4444 (open around the clock 24/7) If you require urgent care, call Soite's Medical Helpline, phone 116 117. 
  
  We are pleased with how active the residents in the area have been in going to coronavirus testing. However, we would like to remind everyone that you cannot come to the drive-in testing site without booking and appointment beforehand. We also ask you to please observe that an appointment must be booked, online or by phone, for everyone who comes to a testing site.  For example, the whole family cannot come to the coronavirus testing site if you have only booked an appointment in one person’s name.

In order for the test­ing process to work smooth­ly, the per­son­nel at the test­ing site needs to know before­hand who comes for a test. The per­son­nel then has the per­son­al infor­ma­tion and the lab­o­ra­to­ry refer­rals ready before the testing.

Changes in Soite

Lohta­ja health sta­tion is closed dur­ing week 20 because of the coro­n­avirus sit­u­a­tion. Clients will be con­tact­ed if an appoint­ment must be changed.