By NewsDesk  @infectiousdiseasenews

The Finnish Institute of Health and Welfare report the coronavirus epidemic has continued to slow down compared to the situation two weeks ago.

COVID-19
Image/CDC

The weekly average of cases reported to the communicable diseases register has decreased clearly from that reported two weeks ago, but it is about the same as last week.

Now the estimated basic reproduction number is 0.75–0.80. This means that in Finland the trend in the coronavirus epidemic has been decreasing for quite some time.

During the last period (25–31 May 2020) no new cases were reported in eight hospital districts.

The number of patients hospitalized due to the disease has also decreased considerably from the situation two weeks ago. In the catchment areas for highly specialized medical care of the university hospitals, the healthcare situation is quite calm. The intensive care capacity was not exceeded at any point. Of all hospitalized patients, almost 80% have been in hospitals within the catchment area for highly specialized medical care of the Helsinki University Central Hospital.

At present, the coronavirus testing capacity of laboratories is more than 13,000 samples per day. During the period 25–31 May the number of people tested for coronavirus was smaller than in the previous weeks.

The aim for Finland is to test all cases where the acute phase of the coronavirus infection is suspected. This means that the threshold for taking the test and for people to have themselves tested should be low.

In Finland an estimated 5,800 people have recovered from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

As of today, Finland has reported 6964 total COVID-19 cases and 322 deaths.