Finland's confirmed COVID-19 cases top 4,000, authority says epidemic peak has passed

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HELSINKI, April 21 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Finland has reached more than 4,000, said the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) on Tuesday.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Finland has confirmed 4,014 infections of COVID-19, including 146 new cases.

The death toll reached 141, 43 more than Monday. The rise in the 24 hours was significant as Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District added the COVID-19 deaths in elderly care homes in the Helsinki metropolitan area to the tally, THL explained.

A researcher from THL estimated that the peak of COVID-19 epidemic in Finland has passed, Finnish national broadcaster Yle reported on Tuesday.

If the anti-epidemic measures continue to remain valid and human behavior does not change, the disease will fade, Simopekka Vanska, a senior researcher at THL, told Yle, emphasizing that the estimate is based on the assumption that the anti-epidemic restrictions would remain the same.

According to Vanska, the figure for infectivity (R0) has fallen lower than the forecast made by THL at the end of March. At that time, it was estimated that the figure would be close to 1.6, but now it is under 1.0.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic spread to Finland, the Finnish government have carried out a series of restrictive measures to curb the spread of the disease, including closing borders, shutting down schools and other educational institutes, limiting public gatherings to ten people, encouraging remote working, shutting down restaurants, cafes and bars. The measures have clearly slowed down the spread of the virus.

Vanska added that the government must now choose which strategy to adopt next in the fight against the disease. Enditem

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