HELSINKI, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- The usage rate of the mobile application (app) that traces COVID-19 exposure in Finland has reached "world record level," the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) said on Thursday, noting that this is one of the reasons behind the decline in the country's infection rate.

To date, two and a half million out of the country's 5.5 million population have installed the app called Koronavilkku on their mobile phones, which qualifies as a world record, said Mika Salminen, a director at the THL, at a press conference on Thursday.

Developed jointly by the THL, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and other government agencies, this app does not automatically contact the health authorities but notifies the users to their potential exposure to coronavirus. It alerts them if an infected person has been in their vicinity for at least 15 minutes.

According to Salminen, the app is one of the reasons why the COVID-19 situation is better in Finland than in most other European countries currently. Other factors are that the infection level in Finland was better during the summer than elsewhere in Europe; the number of tests conducted is high by European standards; and contact tracing is effective.

The Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health on Thursday said the infection rate appeared to be levelling off in the country. The occurrence rate and the share of tests returning positive results have remained unchanged for two weeks now. The "R-rate" in Finland is now somewhat above 1, which means that each infected person will pass the virus on to one other person on average.

The THL reported 188 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, which brought the total number of confirmed cases to 15,566. The number of cases confirmed in the past 14 days is 2,622 (2,841 in the previous 144 days).

Also on Thursday, the government of Finland decided to tighten the restrictions on catering establishments that serve mainly alcoholic beverages (e.g. pubs and night clubs). The restrictions will simultaneously be eased on restaurants that serve meals as their main business. Alcohol sales must end either at 10 p.m. or at 12 midnight depending on the epidemic situation in a given area.

Globally, countries such as the United Kingdom, China, Germany, Russia and the United States are racing against time to develop coronavirus vaccines. Enditem

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