The Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS) reported yesterday that a working-age woman and two working-age men have tested positive for the virus, the latter two after returning from Northern Italy.

FIVE NEW CASES of Covid-19 were confirmed in Finland on Thursday.

The infection of the woman is related to a previously confirmed case of the virus, also known as the new coronavirus.

“All of the people infected are in good condition and have returned home after sample collection. They have been instructed to remain in home isolation. People close to the infected have been contacted,” said a spokesperson for HUS.

Kanta-Häme Hospital District, in turn, reported that a child tested positive for the coronavirus after a family trip to Northern Italy. The child remains in good condition and is not believed to have exposed anyone outside the family to the virus, as the entire family avoided contact with others after returning home to Hämeenlinna.

“The family took initiative and contacted health care authorities, and the family members who had experienced symptoms arrived for sample collection as agreed, avoiding contact with others,” read a press release from Kanta-Häme Central Hospital.

“The family had been in voluntary home quarantine, and the children had not taken part in teaching at school, for example.”

Pirkanmaa Hospital District on Thursday revealed it has ordered a 44-year-old person into home quarantine for testing positive for the virus. Three people are believed to have been exposed to the infection.

Altogether 12 cases of the new coronavirus have thus far been reported in Finland.

Roughly 150 people have additionally been ordered into quarantine due to exposure to the virus, including some 30 members of a youth football team and 100 pupils and teachers at Viikki Teacher Training School in Helsinki.

HUS on Thursday assured that it erred on the side of caution in determining the scope of the quarantine, acknowledging that the exceptional nature of the order has kindled widespread discussion and concern.

“We have been contacted by the families of children who have been ordered into quarantine, learning that family members have been banned from schools, workplaces or hobbies. This is completely unnecessary,” stressed Asko Järvinen, the chief physician for infectious diseases at HUS.

“An exposed person cannot transmit [the virus]. People can only expose others to the virus once they have developed symptoms,” the press release continued.

The National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) has estimated that the incubation period of the coronavirus – that is the time between contraction and onset of symptoms – ranges from two to 12 days, with the average being five.

Aleksi Teivainen – HT

Source: Uusi Suomi