HELSINKI, March 27 (Xinhua) -- According to the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), as of Friday, 1,025 coronavirus cases had been confirmed by laboratories in Finland. The THL also said that seven people had died from coronavirus complications.
Currently, 108 COVID-19 patients are in hospital in Finland, 32 of them in intensive care. Fifty-three percent of the patients with confirmed cases are men, said the THL.
Hospitals in Finland are concerned that protective gear supplies are running low. Paivi Sillanaukee, director general at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, has described the situation as historic.
The Finnish government has announced earlier that strategic stockpiles of hospital equipment would be opened. As the projected number of intensive care (IC) patients is high, work is ongoing to increase IC capacity throughout the country.
The National Emergency Supply Agency (NESA) said on Friday that it had signed large contracts for the delivery of respirator masks needed for healthcare providers.
Jyrki Hakola, basic supply and industry director at the NESA, told Finnish national broadcaster Yle that as the biggest producer country, China is the natural place to procure the masks.
Last weekend, Yle reported that masks were already in short supply at certain Finnish hospitals.
To prevent the further spread of the virus, the Finnish government on Wednesday launched a plan to block the country's hardest-hit Uusimaa region, which includes the capital Helsinki. The lockdown is expected to start on Friday night under police supervision.
