Omicron spikes in the Nordic countries
Norway, Sweden and Finland have the highest number of infections since the start of the pandemic. On 4 January, the Norwegian health authorities reported almost 8,000 new cases, compared with more than 17,300 in Sweden. Almost 6,800 new cases were registered in Finland.
It’s almost doubling in just a couple of days.
Omikron’s share of new cases is the lion’s share.
The Department of Health and Welfare (THL) believes Omicron is behind about 90 percent of new cases in the metropolitan area. And the situation is expected to be similar soon elsewhere in the country.
Now the number of coronary patients in hospitals is also growing. In the wider Uusimaa near Helsinki, there are now about 100 people in hospital due to the coronavirus, which has doubled in two weeks.
“The variant has spread all over Finland [and] we can expect a situation similar to the Helsinki metropolitan area to arise throughout the country, ”says Mika Salminen, THL’s Director of Health Security. Yle.
In Norway, omicron accounted for more than 65% of all new cases in the last week of December, the National Institute of Public Health report. The prevalence of the mutated virus was highest in the northern part of the country. In the Tromsø and Finnmark areas, omicron accounted for 89 percent of the cases in the last week of the year.
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The Norwegian health authorities expect the number of cases to continue significantly.
Two weeks later, the figure is expected to exceed 90 percent.
In Norway, about 55 percent of those in hospital are unvaccinated. Only about 15 percent of patients have been fully vaccinated with three injections, the National Public Health Institute says.
In its latest version weekly report, the institute stresses that a “substantial omicron wave” is expected in the coming weeks. It will lead to a tightening of hospital capacity and a large sick leave in the workplace, the report reads.