HUS chief doctor: The number of coronavirus cases is decreasing with the spread of other viruses | News
“When there is no underlying protection, such as immunity against previous years’ infections, there is perhaps a little more room [other] viruses spread,” says HUS chief physician Asko Järvinen.
There has been concern in Finland that the Covid situation may worsen as autumn approaches, but it seems that things may be going in the other direction. Asko JärvinenChief physician of the Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District (HUS) and head of the infectious diseases department.
Järvinen said that the coronavirus infection rates are decreasing and the number of hospitalizations related to Covid is also decreasing, but other viruses may become more common.
“Apparently, there were so many cases of the disease during the summer that only smaller groups have not come across it yet. At the moment, infection rates continue to decrease and the number of hospital patients is decreasing,” Järvinen said.
The number of other respiratory infections decreased during the first two years of the coronavirus pandemic.
Now, however, children have returned to school and many adults have returned to their workplaces, which, according to Järvinen, provides an opportunity for different viruses to spread compared to when people were more or less stationary.
“When there is no underlying protection, such as immunity against previous years’ infections, there is perhaps a little more room [other] to the spread of diseases. It’s a fear that has been speculated,” he said in a Yle radio interview on Tuesday.
Viruses usually start circulating in the fall, when everyday life starts again. Enterovirus cases start in early autumn, while influenza and RS (respiratory syncytitial virus) typically start late in the year.
“This year can become the year of viruses,” Järvinen said.
The chief medical officer stated that severe cases of Covid are now rare, and only isolated cases require intensive care. Unless the coronavirus evolves into a completely new form, he said, it probably will no longer be a significant burden on intensive care units.
According to Järvinen, the official coronavirus tests are at the same level as in the spring, but working-age people are generally tested for sick leave benefits.
He added that home test kits are still a perfectly acceptable option as long as people remember that infections may not be detected in the early stages and that home tests are not the same as laboratory PCR tests.