THE TWO TOURISTS from Wuhan, China, who sought medical attention for influenza-like symptoms in Inari, Northern Lapland, on Friday do not have the coronavirus, reports the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).
THL on Friday said its laboratory has examined the samples taken from the father and son and concluded that the cause of their symptoms is not the dreaded virus.
“The results confirm that we’re definitely not dealing with the coronavirus,” Jussi Sane, senior expert at THL, stated to Helsingin Sanomat.
Outi Liisanantti, senior physician at Ivalo Health Centre, affirmed to STT that the results are accurate as they were verified with different methods. The Chinese father and son, she added, have been released from quarantine and are no longer under any special monitoring by Finnish authorities.
“They’ll be given standard flu medication and symptom-specific medication – namely, a few tablets of paracetamol and ibuprofen. They’ll then return to the accommodation organised for them by the tour company and they can recover there,” said Liisanantti.
THL on Friday also said Finnish health care centres and laboratories have the capability and readiness to examine and treat possible infections. A low-threshold approach, it added, will be adopted to all suspected cases of coronavirus.
“It is important to identify the cases quickly, so that effective preventive measures can be used to reduce the risk of further infections,” said Taneli Puumalainen, chief physician at THL.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
